X Is Ditching 'Perfectly Functional, Popular' Feature

Circles is being discontinued as of Oct. 31
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 22, 2023 9:48 AM CDT
X Is Killing Off 'Circles' Feature
Workers install lighting on an "X" sign atop the company headquarters, formerly known as Twitter, in downtown San Francisco, Friday, July 28, 2023.   (AP Photo/Noah Berger, File)

Another big change at the site formerly known as Twitter: X says it is shutting down the Circles feature as of Oct. 31. The feature, introduced last year before Elon Musk bought the platform, allowed users to share posts with selected people instead of all their followers, the Verge reports. After Oct. 31, "you will not be able to create new posts that are limited to your Circle, nor will you be able to add people to your Circle," X said in a blog post. The company said people can remove users from their Circles by unfollowing them. "They can no longer see your past Circle Posts," the post said. "Follow them again, if you wish, they will not be added to your Circle."

It's not clear why the feature is being discontinued or whether X plans to replace it, though the Verge notes that the platform has recently been promoting its Community feature. Circles was "intended for users with large follower counts and those who use the platform for both professional and personal interactions," writes Christian Guyton at TechRadar, who sees the removal of the "perfectly functional and popular feature" as part of X's "downward spiral."

With previous Circle posts, the "nightmare scenario is that they suddenly become public, revealing all your thirsty daydreams and snarky asides for the world and your employer to see," writes Amanda Yeo at Mashable. Yeo, who notes that privacy glitches have happened on the platform before, recommends that users consider deleting posts they don't want all their followers to see. (More Twitter stories.)

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