Are you that kind of Twitter user who likes to Tweet but doesn’t want everyone to read it other than his/her followers? No, we won’t criticize you for that. Not everyone is alike. Some live for attention, while others like to stay in their own little cocoon. And you certainly belong to the other half that avoids the limelight.
Honestly, it’s kind of creepy when you find random people liking your retweets or checking out your old Tweets. On top of that, some don’t even realize that their account is public until such a thing happens. Thereby you need to learn how to prevent that from happening or, more precisely, how to go private on Twitter.
Ever wondered how to create Twitter account but then you realized it is filled with too many stalkers? Don’t worry we have got you covered to save you from such creepy stalkers. Before we begin the guide on how to make a Twitter account private, we felt you should be aware of the pros and cons of doing it so that you can decide whether you want to go for it or not.
Pros of making a Private Twitter Account
- Having a private Twitter account enables you to speak your heart without the fear of spreading or being judged.
- It protects you from cyber-bullying.
- You will create a valuable small social community that you know will pay heed to your words.
- Lastly, you won’t feel the pressure to use it daily or often tweet for engagement.
Cons of making a Private Twitter Account
- You won’t get to socialize a lot or make new connections as fewer people reach you when you have a private account.
- You won’t get many retweets which means fewer chances of you being noticed by the people you tweet about.
- You will have less following.
So think about both aspects of having a private account. If you are sure that you want to go for it, then scroll down.
How to make your Twitter private via PC?
Unlike Instagram, which can switch to a public or private account by tapping a toggle, Twitter has a different pattern. Twitter shows this option as
‘protect your Tweets’. Anyone who wants to get added to your Twitter account must send you an invitation to check your Tweets. However, followers who have been following you before you make your tweets private will still have access to your protected Tweets.
You can change from protected to unprotected tweets anytime from your PC by following the steps below.
- Open your browser and open Twitter.com.
- You will land on the sign-in page where you will be asked to provide your login credentials.
- Click the ‘Notification’ option on the left side of your screen and then the gear symbol to reach the settings page.
- Now there you will find the ‘Privacy and Safety’ option, click on it and a list of available settings will appear on your screen.
- Select ‘Protect your Tweets’ and a window will pop up to confirm if you are sure to make your account private.
- Once you are sure, click ‘Protect’ and enter your account’s password.
That is how you can easily make your Tweets private on Twitter.
How to go private on Twitter via an iPhone?
You can also change your Twitter account settings via its app downloaded on your phone. Follow the steps below to do that.
- Open the Twitter app on your phone and log in if you have not.
- On the top, tap the gear icon to open the settings page from your home page on the top.
- Select the ‘Privacy and Safety’ option from the drop-down menu beside your username.
- In that option, you will find a toggle next to ‘Protect your Tweets’, turn it on to enable it.
- When you are done, tap ‘Done’ and your Tweets will be protected from then onwards.
Note: Again, this won’t protect your previous tweets from those you had added before enabling this feature.
How to go private on Twitter via an Android Device?
Android and IOS are pretty much alike when it comes to changing settings on the Twitter app. Still, we have detailed below how to do it on the Android Twitter app for your ease.
- Open the Twitter app on your phone.
- Touch the gear symbol representing settings on the top right of your screen.
- Select, ‘Privacy and Safety’ from the drop-down menu
- Turn the toggle on beside the option ‘Protect your Tweets’ to enable the feature.
- Once you are finished, click ‘Done’ to confirm the new settings.
See, that’s how easy it is. Keep that in mind that the same thing applies here as well, your previous followers can still see your past Tweets. You can remove them from your account to keep those tweets private.
How to reverse the Privacy Setting?
In case you want to ‘unprotect’ your Tweets, you can perform the steps below:
- If you are doing it on the web through your PC, uncheck the box beside ‘Protect my Tweets’.
- For android and IOS apps, you can turn the toggle off beside the ‘Protect my Tweets’ option.
- Make sure you go through all the follow requests before switching back as if they were left pending, those users need to follow you again.
Note: once you have switched back to a public account or unprotected your Tweets, all your previous and future Tweets will be visible to everyone.
Conclusion
Like Instagram and Facebook, Twitter provides its users with the same level of privacy. In fact, with time, some social networking sites are improving these features. For instance, recently, Facebook has introduced a new privacy feature in which you can completely lock your profile and no one other than your friend could check your feed or even profile pictures.
If you want the same kind of privacy for your Twitter account, follow the above stated instructions. If you get stuck on any step, you can ask the Twitter help center or watch this YouTube guide to help yourself.
FAQs
Why are your protected Tweets still appearing in search results?
Like we have already said, when you switch to a private account or protect your Tweets by turning on the privacy toggle, your old followers who were added to your account before changing the privacy setting will still have access to your previous Tweets. Moreover, if any of those past Tweets had been shared on another platform like Facebook or Instagram, they will appear in your search results and Google cannot help it.
Can you use Twitter anonymously?
While you cannot use third-party tools like Instalooker to see private accounts, you can use Twitter anonymously. As long as you stay low profile and use an unrecognizable name, no one can identify you.
Does Twitter give suggestions to follow private accounts?
If someone has uploaded their contacts on Twitter and your email or phone number that you have used on Twitter is also in their contact list, Twitter will give them suggestions of your account. Also, sometimes Twitter gives suggestions based on area or location. So if you share the same location with someone, you might get the following suggestions from that person’s account.
How to report sensitive content on Twitter?
If you come across a Tweet or a picture that you believe should be treated as sensitive content, you can let Twitter know about it via the following steps.
- Locate the Tweet you want to report for sensitive content on Twitter.
- Click the horizontally aligned three dots.
- Select ‘Report Tweet’
- Choose ‘it displays a sensitive image’
- Then you will get further suggestions from Twitter to make your Twitter experience better.
Note: If you find an image disturbing and Twitter has not placed trigger warnings before viewing it, that means it does not meet Twitter’s criteria for sensitive media.
Can you determine if someone has checked your profile?
Unfortunately, no. Unlike Linked In where you can determine who has viewed your profile or Tweet, Twitter does not possess this feature. The only way to determine if someone has viewed your Tweet is by re-retweets. If someone has retweeted your Tweet, that means he/she has viewed it, which is pretty obvious.
What is soft-block on Twitter?
Twitter has introduced this new feature called soft blocking, which allows you to restrict a user or your follower from a few things without blocking him/her. For instance, if you soft block someone from viewing your Tweets, he/she won’t find them on their feed. However, they can view it on your profile.
Mute or block which one is better on Twitter?
Muting is less rude than blocking. Just like blocking, the person will not know that you have muted him/her. You will not see his/her re-tweets and other activities on your profile. However, the other person can see yours and send you direct messages.
