<p>Twitter on Thursday began letting users "hide" tweeted replies that could be seen as abusive or harassing in the latest effort by the online platform to create a more welcoming environment.</p>.<p>The move is part of an effort to help users "feel safe and comfortable while talking on Twitter," head of product management Suzanne Xie said in a statement announcing the feature.</p>.<p>Hidden replies can still be peeked at and engaged with by tapping a gray icon that will appear, but they will no longer be active parts of the main exchange that sprang from a tweet, according to Twitter.</p>.<p>"This way, you have more control over the conversations you start, but people can still see the entire conversation," Xie said.</p>.<p>The San Francisco-based company earlier this year introduced the option to hide replies to tweets in some countries, an option that promised to help foster more reasonable online conversations.</p>.<p>Testing showed that it is a useful tool for managing the back-and-forth exchanges tweets can inspire, according to Twitter.</p>.<p>During testing, hidden tweets were typically considered "irrelevant, off-topic, or annoying," Xie said.</p>.<p>"We're exploring more options around who can reply to or see specific conversations, and are testing engagement changes to see if these lead to healthier discussions," Twitter said.</p>.<p>The hide-away feature is rolling out globally at twitter.com and in updates to the Twitter mobile app.</p>.<p>Twitter separately in September began letting users hide away unwanted direct messages, providing a new tool to stymie abuse.</p>.<p>Twitter users who receive direct messages from people they don't follow on the platform are able to have such missives automatically routed to a secondary folder.</p>.<p>In 2016, the platform began allowing users to eliminate, or mute, notifications based on keywords, phrases or entire conversations they are not interested in seeing in the effort to stem abusive comments.</p>
<p>Twitter on Thursday began letting users "hide" tweeted replies that could be seen as abusive or harassing in the latest effort by the online platform to create a more welcoming environment.</p>.<p>The move is part of an effort to help users "feel safe and comfortable while talking on Twitter," head of product management Suzanne Xie said in a statement announcing the feature.</p>.<p>Hidden replies can still be peeked at and engaged with by tapping a gray icon that will appear, but they will no longer be active parts of the main exchange that sprang from a tweet, according to Twitter.</p>.<p>"This way, you have more control over the conversations you start, but people can still see the entire conversation," Xie said.</p>.<p>The San Francisco-based company earlier this year introduced the option to hide replies to tweets in some countries, an option that promised to help foster more reasonable online conversations.</p>.<p>Testing showed that it is a useful tool for managing the back-and-forth exchanges tweets can inspire, according to Twitter.</p>.<p>During testing, hidden tweets were typically considered "irrelevant, off-topic, or annoying," Xie said.</p>.<p>"We're exploring more options around who can reply to or see specific conversations, and are testing engagement changes to see if these lead to healthier discussions," Twitter said.</p>.<p>The hide-away feature is rolling out globally at twitter.com and in updates to the Twitter mobile app.</p>.<p>Twitter separately in September began letting users hide away unwanted direct messages, providing a new tool to stymie abuse.</p>.<p>Twitter users who receive direct messages from people they don't follow on the platform are able to have such missives automatically routed to a secondary folder.</p>.<p>In 2016, the platform began allowing users to eliminate, or mute, notifications based on keywords, phrases or entire conversations they are not interested in seeing in the effort to stem abusive comments.</p>