Could a "mute" function on Twitter serve to dial back online drama?

Maybe. Twitter appears to be testing a new feature that lets users "mute" each other's tweets, making select users' missives disappear from their feeds without unfollowing them, The Verge reported.

The move to block all of a user's tweets and retweets can be temporary, something that could come in handy when a friend is live-tweeting a show with spoilers. Or it could be implemented permanently for users who feel pressured to follow others for career or social reasons.

Mashable pointed out that the mute feature comes soon after Twitter changed its block policy, temporarily allowing blocked accounts to still read and retweet your timeline. Perhaps muting will offer something gentler than unfollowing or blocking someone, minimizing friction between accounts.

Users who implement third-party apps like TweetBot as well as TweetDeck, which Twitter acquired in 2011, have long been able to mute accounts or other apps.

Twitter is known for testing new features among a select number of users. The mute function could be discarded, but it seems more likely that it will roll out for Twitter's 250 million active accounts in the near future.

The site recently launched a new look that is still rolling out for users. Featuring a larger profile and cover photo, the redesigned timeline is intended to be more dynamic, putting the spotlight on tweets that receive more interactions. The Facebook-esque profiles also list the date that the user joined and allow for a "pinned tweet" at the top of the page. 

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