Twitter has randomly selected a portion of users on their platform to test out a new update that removes the original “@ reply” system, and these users are not happy about it.
The new system hides the @ sign followed by the username of a person you’re replying to and replaces it with a small “replying to” caption.
“When I try to respond to a tweet, I have no idea to whom I’m responding,” said one user in a Medium post, also claiming that the update would somehow make people more susceptible to harassment.
“I am in a test for Twitter’s new @ reply design and it is a mess,” declared the Editor-in-Chief of TechCrunch, Matthew Panzarino.
Sam Sharma, senior producer for Sony’s PlayStation, called the update “user hostile,” while journalist Jeff Jarvis described it as “awful.”
“Yeah this Twitter update I have is awful. Can’t tell what’s a reply and what isn’t,” declared YouTuber GoldyGloveTV.
This week, Twitter removed a new word-muting feature, after accidentally releasing it too early to the public. The feature, which was seemingly inspired by Twitter alternative Gab who currently boast a word-muting option, shows that Twitter is preparing to release an update containing even more features for the platform soon.
In February, the hashtag #RIPTwitter trended worldwide after rumors circulated that the platform were preparing to change their timeline to a new, unpopular, Facebook-style alternative.
“Hello Twitter! Regarding #RIPTwitter: I want you all to know we’re always listening. We never planned to reorder timelines next week,” announced Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey after the protest. However the platform introduced a new timeline just four days later.
Several unnecessary and unpopular features have since been added to Twitter in an attempt to mirror competitors such as Facebook and Gab.
Charlie Nash is a reporter for Breitbart Tech. You can follow him on Twitter @MrNashington or like his page at Facebook.