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Because it's so easy to publish offensive comments online, people will often say things on social media that they might never say face-to-face. Elon Musk’s X, in particular, has become a hotbed of toxic conversations on almost every topic. In recent years, many have left the platform for alternative social media networks. However, since I rely on X for both personal and professional communications, I don’t want to quit the network entirely.
Still, I’d like to experience less of the toxicity. Thankfully, the site formerly known as Twitter still has several features that can help me manage my interactions and cut down on the abuse. I can unmention myself to leave a conversation that’s taken a turn in the wrong direction, limit who can reply to my posts, or limit a post to communities I've joined. I can also mute or block specific accounts so they can’t follow or message me. Here's what you can try.
1. Leave or Mute a Conversation
Let’s say you've been mentioned in a conversation that has become annoying or even outright toxic, and you no longer want to be a part of it. If you’ve been tagged in the conversation, you can leave it. I can choose a conversation in which I was mentioned, then click the ellipsis icon next to the post in which I was tagged and select Leave this conversation. A pop-up window explains that by leaving a conversation, my username will still appear in the conversation but will be untagged from the original post and all replies. People will no longer be able to mention me again in this conversation.
(Credit: PCMag / X)Otherwise, I can also mute the conversation so I no longer receive any further alerts about it. To do this, I can choose a conversation to which I contributed, click the ellipsis icon next to any post, and select Mute this conversation.
(Credit: PCMag / X)If you contributed to the conversation and want to exclude yourself completely, you can always delete your posts. To do this, I can click the ellipsis icon next to any of my own posts and select Delete if I wish to remove them.
(Credit: PCMag / X)2. Limit Who Can Reply to My Posts
By default, everyone on X can reply to a post you publish. But in some cases, you may want to limit who can respond. Before I even publish a post, I click the Everyone can reply link and change that option to Accounts you follow, Verified Accounts, or Only accounts you mention. If I choose Only people you mention, then I have to tag the people I want to be able to respond. When I submit a post set to Accounts you follow or Only accounts you mention, the reply icon will be grayed out for everyone not in either category. However, even those who can’t reply will still be able to view, repost, quote, share, and like my post.
(Credit: PCMag / X)3. Limit a Post to an X Community
An X Community is a group of people on X who share a common interest—personal, professional, or otherwise. You can create your own X communities and add other users, or you can join a community led by someone else. Afterwards, you’re able to limit a post to a specific community. When I compose my post, I click the Everyone button and select the community to which I want to direct the post. Then, when I send it, only people in that community will see it and be able to respond.
(Credit: PCMag / X)4. Tweet Privately to Just My Followers
Sometimes I might not want random accounts engaging with me. In that event, I can make my account private to limit my audience to just the accounts that follow me. To do this, you'd go to More > Settings and Privacy > Privacy and safety > Audience, media and tagging and enable Protect your posts. A notification explains that protecting your account will hide previous posts. Check the box next to Protect my account to confirm the action.
Once my account is protected, my past and future tweets will be visible only to my followers. Additionally, people won’t be able to repost my posts or follow my account without my approval. My posts won’t appear in external search engines, such as Google, but people on X can still find them. If someone tries to view my account, they’ll see a message indicating that my posts are protected.
(Credit: PCMag / X)5. Block an Account With Safety Mode
Safety Mode is a feature that temporarily blocks accounts for seven days for using potentially harmful language or sending repetitive and uninvited replies or mentions. With this feature turned on for my account, Twitter analyzes the content of incoming posts—as well as the sender's account—to determine if a specific post should be blocked. To enable Safety Mode, go to More > Settings and privacy > Privacy and safety > Content you see > Search settings and enable Hide sensitive content.
(Credit: PCMag / X)6. Block or Mute an Account
By manually blocking an account on X, I can prevent their posts from appearing in my timeline and stop them from viewing my activity on the site. If they follow me, they’ll know I’ve blocked their account if they visit my page. To avoid this, muting them will remove their posts from my timeline but won't restrict their access to my own posts. For either option, I can click the ellipsis icon next to the account name or one of its posts. From the menu, I select Mute or Block.
(Credit: PCMag / X)To manage the accounts I’ve muted or blocked, I can go to More > Settings and privacy > Privacy and safety > Mute and block. To view those that I've blocked, I can select Blocked accounts, where I can choose to unblock an account. To see muted accounts, I'd select Muted accounts instead. Here, I can also unmute any account.
(Credit: PCMag / X)7. Report an Account
I can also report an account to X if I feel a user is too abusive. To do this, click the ellipsis icon next to the account and select Report. I then follow the reporting process to note who’s being targeted by the account and the type of behavior I want to flag. If X finds my report valid and justified, the account could be removed from the site. However, in most cases, the account in question will likely remain on the site, and I’ll simply be told to block it.
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