How to get rid of Twitter threads and other tips to improve Twitter

Amongst all of the modifications which can be at present ruining my Twitter expertise, the For You tab ranks excessive, and particularly all of the amplified Twitter Blue subscriber tweets and threads. ChatGPT, Midjourney, AI, Notion, NFT, Bitcoin, you title the tech-bro obsession du jour and there’s a minimum of one thread about it on prime of my Twitter feed. Much more await once I scroll down. So I’ve been on a private campaign to eradicate these threads from my Twitter expertise.

Since there’s no technique to disable all threads altogether (and I don’t need to do this), the following greatest resolution is to make use of Twitter’s built-in mute operate. I couldn’t probably know who to mute as a result of these threads come from any and all strangers, however I do know what. If you happen to’ve stored a detailed eye on the sample of those threads as I’ve, you most likely observed some key phrases or emojis hold popping up in every of them, and that’s precisely what we have to eliminate (most of) them.

1. Go to Twitter’s Settings and Help > Settings and privateness.
2. Select Privateness and security > Mute and block > Muted phrases. (This link will take you straight there.)
3. Faucet the + signal on the highest proper so as to add a brand new muted phrase.
4. Enter “a thread” within the textual content field.
5. I counsel you retain the remainder of the settings. We would like this key phrase to be muted perpetually within the timeline and in notifications coming from individuals you don’t observe. Be happy to vary the settings, although, for those who don’t need to be as drastic together with your muting.
6. Faucet Save.
7. Repeat the earlier steps for these key phrases too:
   1. 🧵
   2. 👇
   3. Right here they’re
   4. Listed here are the
   5. Right here’s how

Basically, these six key phrases are the commonest denominators I might discover in all of the threads which were elevated by Twitter’s algorithm to the For You web page. Ought to one other development pop up, I’ll add the frequent key phrase to my mute record to keep away from it.

In fact, the strategy isn’t foolproof and a few threads will nonetheless sneak in in the event that they don’t use any particular key phrase, however since I began muting these phrases, I’ve come throughout a lot, a lot fewer threads in my timeline. I additionally really feel rather less annoyed once I browse my Twitter feed. I’ll name this an all-around win.

The identical trick of muting Twitter threads might be utilized to any phrases or sentences that annoy you, be it quickly or on a regular basis. For instance, I’ve muted “ratio” as a result of getting ratioed on Twitter is a foolish pissing contest began by individuals with the emotional intelligence of a toddler.

As a result of I observe European soccer lots, particularly La Liga, I’ve additionally muted witless puns like “vardrid,” “varca,” “pessi,” and “penaldo.” My Twitter expertise is best with out the negativity of an childish soccer fan.

And regardless of how, uh, entertaining it’s to observe the trainwreck that’s Twitter’s new proprietor’s public life and mood tantrums, I’ve determined it doesn’t deserve my consideration span or psychological power, so I’ve muted “elon,” “elno,” and “musk.”

I’ve additionally change into accustomed to muting sure key phrases once they’re a part of a short lived however annoying development. For instance, a couple of months in the past, we noticed a bunch of emotional crimson flag tweets, so I muted the 🚩 emoji that was usually related to them, however I set that one as much as seven days as a substitute of completely.

You possibly can apply this to any matter, key phrase, or development you need to keep away from. For instance, for those who’re bored with all of the Midjourney tweets, mute that for some time (or indefinitely). Some AI threads use the 🪄 emoji, so that you may need to experiment with muting that. And so forth.

Checking Twitter can typically really feel like infinite doom-scrolling, so to treatment that, I’ve obtained a tip that makes your Twitter expertise higher each day: lists. Particularly, personally curated and pinned lists.

I’ve a variety of various pursuits and it’s usually jarring to undergo all of them in my timeline. Some time in the past, I began curating a number of the accounts I observe into particular lists. One for tech information, one other for soccer tweets, one for fellow Eurovision followers, and two extra for cats and dogs. (These two are public, so go forward and observe them for further cuteness.) I’ve given these lists emoji names to suit extra of them on the highest bar on my Twitter residence display.

I’ve made two guidelines for these lists: The primary one is that the accounts there both must publish healthful content material (therefore cats and canine) or typically constructive and/or good content material. Lists are my secure haven away from the mess of Twitter’s timeline and the negativity of the For You tab, so I need them to be as pleased, humorous, optimistic, useful, or intelligent as attainable.

The second rule is that nothing is ready in stone. If an account begins being too narrow-minded or detrimental or if it begins posting spam or too many adverts, it’ll be immediately eliminated. I don’t have time for these in my personally curated feeds.

One of the best a part of lists, although, is you can pin them to your private home display. I’ve accomplished this for the previous few years and I really like how a easy swipe takes me from my timeline to the sheer pleasure of a pupper-filled feed. That’s all I have to deliver again a smile to my face when issues get tough on the principle timeline.

As a lot as I need to faux that I’ve completely curated the record of accounts I observe on Twitter, there are nonetheless some individuals I observe for his or her private tweets, however not a lot for the random and frequent retweets they ship into my feed.

For these individuals, there’s a really helpful trick: Go to their profile, faucet the three dots … subsequent to the notification bell, and select Flip off Retweets. And ta-da, you’ll see their unique tweets, however not the deluge of retweets from their numerous obsessions.

For the previous few months, spam has change into extra rampant on Twitter. I used to maintain my direct messages open to permit strangers to achieve out to me, however ever since I began receiving 5 or extra spam messages per day, I closed down my DMs. I don’t want another excuse to be indignant every time I test my feed.

And eventually, the final trick I can provide you is to look out on your sanity when utilizing social media typically, and Twitter specifically. For me, this implies uninstalling the Twitter app — or every other third-party Twitter consumer — and solely accessing it by means of the browser. That provides a small hurdle earlier than I test it, so I’ve an additional second to suppose earlier than I do it. I’ve additionally disabled all notifications in order that Twitter by no means has the facility to interrupt me. I test it once I need, not when it needs.

Because the Twitter expertise morphs additional away from the one I initially signed up for in 2008, I’d slowly abandon it. For now, there are nonetheless fascinating individuals and accounts to observe; I simply have to ensure I don’t get dragged away by the ramping negativity within the nooks that I can’t management. Avoiding Twitter threads is an effective step, pinned lists are one other, and I’ll hold adjusting these measures to enhance my expertise.