Following an account on Twitter often means more than seeing original content. In addition to an account's personally drafted Tweets, by clicking the ‘follow’ button, their likes and Retweets are also likely to flood the user’s feed as well. The good news is that Twitter offers users a quick and easy way to filter out those pesky Retweets.
In the last few months, Twitter users have seen a lot of changes in an effort to improve the overall user experience. Some new features, such as disappearing Tweets and two-factor authentication mimic social media competitors like Instagram and Facebook, while Audio Spaces is the company's take on a Clubhouse-like feature. Much like other platforms, many of these updates are to provide clarity and transparency to shared news articles, particularly due to the election and the resulting aftermath.
Twitter has an option for those users who feel their feed is overflowing with Tweets from accounts with a trigger-happy Retweet finger. The process simply involves heading over to the Retweet-happy profile and clicking or tapping on the “…” button next to the “Follow” link. If using the Android or iOS app, the “…” button is in the top-right of the screen. From there, users just need to click or tap on the “Turn off Retweets” link at the top of the list, and then Twitter will provide a confirmation that Retweets for that account are turned off. While Twitter does immediately provide the option to undo this action (if they clicked the link by accident), retweets can be turned back on for that account by again clicking the “…” button, but this time choosing “Turn on Retweets” from the same list.
Cleaning Up A Twitter Feed With Muting
Oftentimes, users find themselves stuck when they follow highly active accounts, especially celebrities and other verified accounts. They might enjoy the original content and don’t want to unfollow them, but end up annoyed with the content on their feed from accounts they don’t like. That's where turning off Retweets comes in.
However, if users find they are hearing too much from a particular account even when turning off Retweets, they can also mute that account by going to the account's profile page and accessing the same menu. This option removes the account's Tweets from the user’s feed and prevents push notifications, all while allowing the user to continue following the account, reply and be replied to, as well as send and receive Direct Messages. The muted account will also not be aware that they are on mute, making it a useful alternative to out-and-out blocking the account.
While turning off Retweets and muting won’t keep all the “extra” content from followed accounts from appearing on a user's timeline, it will help to clear things up a little. Still, even with this feature on, users will still occasionally see liked tweets, followed account replies, and the associated original Tweets, and promoted Tweets. Even so, it can be a step in the right direction towards improving and customizing a user's general Twitter experience.
Source: Twitter