Twitter says it’s removing the ‘Quality Filter’ setting from search

Twitter announced today that it is removing its “Quality Filter” from search settings. This setting initially allowed users to filter out low-quality content like spam, but now Twitter says it was only further confusing users.

The Quality Filter was first introduced in 2016, with Twitter explaining that it was designed to “give you better control over your Twitter experience.” The purpose was to hide notifications and tweets from bots and spammers, as well as to help prevent harassment.

“When turned on, the filter can improve the quality of Tweets you see by using a variety of signals, such as account origin and behavior,” the company said in 2016. The company never offered any details on the algorithms used to help determine what was considered a low quality tweet.

In a tweet today, Twitter said that over time, it has improved search to help show the best tweets without the need for this setting:

We’re removing Quality Filter from search settings because people told us the filter was confusing and they didn’t want it. We’ve been improving search over time so Top shows you the best Tweets without the extra setting and Latest shows you more Tweets.

The “Quality Filter” still seems to be available as an option for your Notifications tab, however.

Over the last year, Twitter has made several new tools available to help counteract abusive and inappropriate tweets. You can now be more detailed when reporting tweets, while Twitter has also started addressing fake accounts and taking tougher action on accounts accused of abuse.

We’re removing Quality Filter from search settings because people told us the filter was confusing and they didn't want it. We’ve been improving search over time so Top shows you the best Tweets without the extra setting and Latest shows you more Tweets.

— Support (@Support) July 23, 2019