HOW TO

Unlock Twitter's hidden features

And upgrade your social standing.

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The days of being restricted to 140 characters might be gone, but word count isn’t the only thing that’s been holding up your Twitter game. What if we told you there were a whole host of experience-enhancing Twitter features you’d yet to discover? Ones that will make it easier to be presented with the information you want, and better avoid that which you don’t. This isn’t some social network fantasy, it’s true. And this is how you can unlock these features.

Only hear from those you care about

Twitter’s notifications have broadened in recent times to include things the platform thinks you might be interested in, even if it's from users you don’t follow. If you’d rather keep your alerts closed off to those within your inner circle, you'll just need to tap Settings and privacy > Notifications > Advanced filters > You don't follow. Doing this will mute notifications you don’t already have a connection with.

Twitter lets you mute alerts from those you don't follow.

Mute certain words

‘Shhhh!’ Shouting that at your iPhone isn't going to help you avoid that minefield of TV and sport spoilers swirling around your timeline. Fortunately, you can silence certain words or topics from your personal feed by going Settings and privacy > Content preferences > Muted > Muted words > Add. Now, just type in those topics and terms you want to avoid, be it subjects you’re tired of hearing about, #RoyalWedding, or shows you’d rather not have ruined by spoilers, #StrangerThings. Tapping the 'For how long' button also lets you pick whether you want these subjects silenced for 24 hours, a week, month, or forever.

Tired of hearing about the royal wedding? Just add it to your muted topics list.

See where you’re logged in

Twitter is the ultimate way to pass a couple of minutes of boredom, no matter where you are. But that means you’ve probably logged in on a fair few devices in your time, and potentially left some of them on your account. You can see exactly where you’re logged in through by tapping Settings and privacy > Account > Apps & sessions. If any don’t ring true to you, it might be time to change your password.

See where you're logged in and if anyone's gained access to your account.

Open yourself to private conversations

It used to be that you could only have private conversations with those you knew, but where’s the social circle expanding joy in that? You can choose to enjoy conversations out of the prying eyes of the masses by heading Settings and privacy > Privacy and safety > Receive Messages from anyone and flicking that switch to the on position.

Opening yourself up to the world could spark some interesting conversations.