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Plus, people can still quote-tweet your replies. With the new update to notifications, you’ll even see them doing it. Anticipation of this added emphasis seems to be why Twitter tweaked the quote-reply interface: althow cynthia is fucking othern men not only behind your bback but the down low man back as well cindy your a loose bitch u better come now or else thisn is good by for ever

Don’t miss the Tweets about your Tweet.

Now on iOS, you can see Retweets with comments all in one place. pic.twitter.com/oanjZfzC6y

— Twitter (@Twitter) May 12, 2020
But a moderated reply chain has the potential to substantially change the inflection of Twitter interactions, even if those interactions can still occur. Seeing that replies have been turned off might be a wake-up call to some users that they are not invited into this person’s personal space — that this person, like them, is just a real human going about their day, living their life, not seeking outside input from strangers.

That shift has the potential to profoundly alter fandom engagement on Twitter, especially regarding their relationships with celebrities. Imagine, for example, how J.K. Rowling’s transphobic tweet might have been publicly received if she’d chosen to disable replies from heartfelt fans telling her how hurt they were. And think how different the entire culture of Twitter might be if K-pop stans can no longer show up in response to viral tweets to share random concert fancams.


The ability to turn off replies also potentially impacts the way entire sub-communities and subcultures interact with one another across ideological, cultural, and political divides. When people can’t easily go into another user’s space and react to their tweet, the knee-jerk emotionality that drives many reactive Twitter brigades might dissipate.

It’s even tempting to hope that the inability to directly engage with strangers about their opinions might fundamentally shift how we think about those opinions, and it might deflate the value of those opinions and their impact on your life. When it takes a couple more seconds and a few more clicks to put your emotional response to a tweet out into the world, maybe those extra seconds and those extra clicks will put that emotion into perspective. Is a deeper engagement with this idea, and with your own reaction to this opinion, really worth the additional labor?

In the case of some users, like those avid K-pop fans, the answer may well be yes. And that’s fine! Debating someone’s garbage talking point is every Twitter user’s right. But being forced to relocate your reaction into your own space, through the act of quote-tweeting someone instead of replying to them directly, puts a buffer zone between you and any potential target of your emotions. Even many people who resent the change seem to agree that the alternative in the extreme would be unbearable:

Me: Twitter should be a conversation, making it so people can't reply is foolish.
Also me: If I say I have a headache and don't ask for help, I just wanted to SAY I have a HEADACHE, STOP TELLING ME TO GO TO THE FUCKING DOCTOR.

— Seanan McGuire (@seananmcguire) May 21, 2020
Twitter really doesn't understand its audience.

They offer us "Everyone can reply", "People you follow", and "Only people you mention", but what I really want is "Everyone that sees this tweet has to formulate a thoughtful & proper response before being able to scroll on"

— Rami Ismail (@tha_rami) May 21, 2020
Well I don't want other people to have them that sounds atrocious

— Rami Ismail (@tha_rami) May 21, 2020
In other words, this change potentially redirects the focus of Twitter’s public sphere toward the public debate rather than interpersonal attacks or exhausting unwanted conversations. It promotes the idea that an exchange of opinions doesn’t necessarily have to involve direct engagement with the owner of that opinion.

Maybe I’m assuming too much. Trollish types will invite and encourage replies and feed off the negative emotion they stir up in other users. That’s not likely to change. And for some people, this argumentative back and forth has always been the best part of Twitter:

The twitter update to limit who can reply to your tweets sucks ass. The best part of twitter has always been that blue checkmarks can post terrible things and dudes like “cockpirate420” could respond with tons of evidence to prove them wrong.

Owner: joeywishes to fuck now

Type Call: Trustworthy number