Twitter testing new Communities feature, connecting you with similar people

Twitter
Twitter (Image credit: iMore)

What you need to know

  • Twitter is testing a brand new feature.
  • Communities will connect you to people who want to talk about the same things you do.
  • Communities will have rules and moderators.

A new Twitter feature called Communities is now being tested on the web and iOS.

The company announced today:

There's always been a broad, weird and wonderful range of conversations on Twitter, but we haven't done enough to help connect people who are into the same things. And now, that's changing. Starting today, we're testing Communities, a way to easily find and connect with people who want to talk about the same things you do.

Twitter says that Communities are for "people who want to talk about the thing you want to talk about." You'll be able to tweet directly to a community group rather than all of your followers, with only members of the community able to reply, keeping the discussions "intimate and relevant".

Community pages and timelines will be available to read by anyone:

While you can Tweet only to your Community for a focused conversation, Community pages and timelines are publicly available so anyone can read, Quote Tweet, and report Community Tweets. We want to continue to support public conversation and help people find Communities that match their interests, while also creating a more intimate space for conversation.

Communities will have moderators who can pick the focus, and create Community rules.

Twitter says it will test, learn and iterate based on user feedback for the new feature, and that the communities will be available through a separate tab at the bottom of the iOS app on devices like the iPhone 12 on iOS 15 and beyond, and on the sidebar through the web. You can read the full announcement here.

Stephen Warwick
News Editor

Stephen Warwick has written about Apple for five years at iMore and previously elsewhere. He covers all of iMore's latest breaking news regarding all of Apple's products and services, both hardware and software. Stephen has interviewed industry experts in a range of fields including finance, litigation, security, and more. He also specializes in curating and reviewing audio hardware and has experience beyond journalism in sound engineering, production, and design. Before becoming a writer Stephen studied Ancient History at University and also worked at Apple for more than two years. Stephen is also a host on the iMore show, a weekly podcast recorded live that discusses the latest in breaking Apple news, as well as featuring fun trivia about all things Apple. Follow him on Twitter @stephenwarwick9