Microblogging service Twitter, Inc. has rolled out two new features that allow users to control what they see in their notification view, with an aim of reducing alleged harassment.

The first of the new features, which was previously available to verified users only, is called by Twitter as a “quality filter,” and when switched on will, in theory, mute any targeted tweets at the given user that are identified to contain threats, offensive or abusive language, duplicate content, or are sent from suspicious accounts.

Twitter claims that the filter improves the quality of tweets a user sees, but does not filter content from people you follow or accounts a user has previously interacted with.

The second new feature is the ability to filter notifications based on whether users wish to see content from anyone, or only people they know or follow.

“Don’t want to see notifications from everyone? Starting today, everyone will have the ability to limit notifications to only people they follow on mobile and on twitter.com,” the company explained in a blog post. “Simply turn it on if you want to give it a go. If not, no worries – your individual Twitter experience will continue unchanged.”

Two simple settings to give you better control over your Twitter experience. https://t.co/pEJuMUhCYs pic.twitter.com/jmFd0rDoV6

— Twitter Support (@Support) August 18, 2016

Demand?

Giving Twitter users extra tools to filter their notification stream is an easy thing to do and arguably overdue, given the criticism Twitter has copped from whining social justice warriors and others with thin skins, but here’s the question that must be asked: is there actual demand for these changes?

Putting aside the echo chamber of those who whine about harassment on Twitter, the reality is that the vast, vast majority of users are never harassed on Twitter (excluding the odd bit of spam) and those that are harassed already have one completely under-utilized feature that they could use already: and that’s the ability to block people who are perceived to be harassing them.

Nearly every person who yells “harassment” on Twitter is a case of someone literally wanting to play the victim in the public sphere because sensible, sane people (that is 99 percent of Twitter users) know that the easiest way to deal with someone you disagree with or who may be “harassing” you is to block them, end of story.

The last positive with the new options is that the next time someone whines with hurt feelings it can be pointed out that they now have three options to deal with their perceived problem.

Image credit: Pixabay/Public Domain CC0