Twitter Begins Testing Community Features, Similar To Facebook Groups

Twitter is testing new features such as Facebook Groups. (photo: doc. unsplash)

JAKARTA – Twitter on Wednesday, September 8 launched a global test of a feature called Communities. This feature is similar to Facebook Groups in that it gives users a way to tweet to people with similar interests.

In a blog post, Twitter says certain users can create Communities and more will be added in the coming months. The company did not disclose the number of users who could create a Community in the test, but any user could participate in the group if invited to join.

The community is publicly viewable, although at this stage people need to be invited to join by a moderator or other members.

The social media company has in recent months rolled out a slew of new features including subscription-based "super followers" and live audio chat rooms, aimed at reversing years of business stagnation.

Larger social media competitor, Facebook, has also been pushing its Groups, which can be private or public, as a strategic priority since 2017. But Facebook Groups have also been used to spread political and health misinformation and regulate extremist activity. This causes the company to announce changes to the recommended Group types to users.

Twitter says it will adjust its rules and enforcement actions to keep people safe in the Community. This includes developing ways to proactively identify groups that could be problematic.

"Some of the early Communities we tested surrounded popular conversations on Twitter," said David Regan, staff product manager at Twitter, in a blog post. He says this includes the keywords "dogs, weather, sneakers, skin care, and astrology, with more to come."

Users will act as Community moderators, setting and enforcing standards for their groups. During testing, the company approved moderators and will work closely with them, Twitter.

A Twitter spokesperson said the company had conducted research and consulted with experts over the past year "to better understand how Communities can be used and abused."