Twitter Circles are now widely available.
Reuters
All Twitter users can now make a Twitter Circle with a curated list of users and send tweets that only that group can see.
When you send a tweet, you can choose to send it publicly or target it just to your Twitter Circle.
You can add up to 150 people to your Twitter Circle.
Twitter’s strength is also occasionally its weakness: You’re broadcasting your thoughts to the entire world, when perhaps you’d rather send something to a select group of people.
Twitter Circles addresses that by letting you create a “circle” of contacts and tweet directly to that closed set of users. Following a period of beta testing with select users, the feature is now available to all Twitter users.
What is a Twitter Circle?
A Twitter Circle is a curated set of Twitter users to whom you want to privately direct your tweets. After setting up a Circle, you always have the option to send each tweet that you compose to everyone — which is the usual default — or your Twitter Circle.
Your Twitter Circle can contain up to 150 people, and they can be anyone on Twitter. You don’t have to be following people to add them to a Circle, nor do they need to be following you. Keep in mind that you can’t create multiple Twitter Circles for different groups of people; Twitter only allows you to have a single Circle, but you can modify the members anytime you like.
How to add people to a Twitter Circle
1. In the Twitter app, tap the New button to begin composing a tweet. To the right of your account icon, tap Public.
When you compose a new tweet, tap Public to see your options — you can send to everyone, or just your Twitter Circle.
Dave Johnson/Insider
2. In the Choose audience popup window, you should see options for Public and Twitter Circle. To the right of Twitter Circle, tap Edit.
3. On the Edit your Twitter Circle page, tap Recommended.
4. Search or browse for the people you want to add to your Circle. Tap Add to add each person to your circle, and you can add any number up to 150 people. They’ll appear in the Twitter Circle tab of this window.
5. When your Circle is complete, tap the X at the top left.
When you edit a Twitter Circle, you can add anyone, including people whom you don’t follow and who don’t follow you.
Dave Johnson/Insider
Quick tip: If you want to review all the members of your Twitter Circle, or change its membership, tap your account icon in the app, tap Twitter Circle in the menu, and then edit your list by tapping the Remove button to the right of any user you want to exclude.
How to tweet to your Twitter Circle
To send a tweet to the members of your Twitter Circle, start by composing your tweet in the usual way. To the right of your account icon, tap Public to see the Choose audience popup window. Tap Twitter Circle. Now you should see Twitter Circle appear to the right of your account icon – this is who your tweet will be sent to — and you can complete the tweet and tap Tweet to send it.
Choose Twitter Circle from the menu to direct your tweet to a smaller audience.
Dave Johnson/Insider
Quick tip: After sending a tweet to your Twitter Circle, you can see it on your profile as a sent tweet, but it’ll have a disclaimer letting you know that only people in your Twitter Circle can see it. The disclaimer will also appear beneath your tweet in the feed for users who are in your Twitter circle.
You can tell at a glance which tweets were sent to your Twitter Circle.
Dave Johnson/Insider