Twitter began testing ‘Circle’ with a small set of users earlier this month, and it now appears that it is beginning to roll out to additional people (via Android Police). The tool operates similarly to Instagram’s ‘Close Friends’ in that it allows users to send tweets to a small set of people instead of the whole Twitter community.
Right now, it’s unclear how many people currently have access to Circle. It looks like more users (myself included) are finally seeing the feature pop up when they start composing a tweet, but some users still report not having access quite yet. Twitter spokesperson Joseph Nunez told The Verge it’s still in testing. “We are still currently testing Twitter Circle with a group of people across iOS, Android and Web globally,” Nunez said. “The feature has not rolled out widely to everyone yet as we continue to gather feedback.”
To check if you have access to Twitter Circle, update your Twitter app or head to Twitter in a web browser. When you start composing a tweet, you’ll see a dropdown menu at the top that reads Everyone. From here, you can choose Twitter Circle to limit your tweet to a select audience, or you can hit Edit to add or remove people from your Circle. Twitter won’t notify users if you add or remove them.
You can add up to 150 users to your Circle, whether they follow you or not. Users in your Circle will see a note appended to Circle-only tweets (and vice versa), stating: “Only people in @[yourusername]’s Twitter Circle can see this tweet.” Tweeting to your Circle is almost like having a private account, only it privatizes certain tweets instead of limiting access to your entire profile.
Users in your Circle will be unable to retweet anything you post there, but they will be able to screenshot and save your tweets. It’s also vital to remember that Twitter’s community rules apply even if you’re tweeting to a limited audience.
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