There has been a great deal made about Twitter’s addition of the “Mute” function. It’s available via Twitter’s web interface, iOS and Android applications. So, if I want to mute my friend Aviva, I could just access the … menu and select Mute and I no longer have to hear from her.
When I heard about this feature, I really struggled with why anyone would want to use it. I follow people because I enjoy their sharing. If someone upsets or insults me, I just unfollow them. Maybe I’m just not sophisticated enough to think that there are other ways of interacting without listening.
The Guardian lists “13 reasons to mute people on Twitter“. I don’t see any reason in that list that would apply to me. Like I say, upset me and you’re toast. It’s pretty much black and white for me.
In reality, the function doesn’t actually apply to me anyway. I don’t use the Twitter interface. Instead, I use Hootsuite or Twittelator and neither of these products supports the mute feature.
Now, I know that there are probably good reasons to mute me! I do a great deal of sharing through my timeline. My actions might be interpreted as noisy or spammy. If it is, go ahead and unfollow me. I won’t know; I won’t really care.
As for me, unless someone comes up with a good reason or strategy that makes sense, I won’t be muting anybody. I value their thoughts and comments. That’s why I followed them in the first case.
If I’m missing something, please let me know. I’m usually the last person to figure stuff out anyway.
doug --- off the record 