We, as a people, are in constant search for a place to talk shit without fear of repercussions. In this enduring quest for gossip, society created Yik Yak, an app that allowed users to anonymously connect with everyone within 5 miles (RIP); private accounts on Instagram and Twitter; finstas and fake accounts and Close Friends Stories.
More recently, Twitter launched Twitter Circles, which allows users to add up to 150 of their closest allies who can see tweets you might want shared with fewer people. But, of course, what is the point of using Twitter Circles when your account is already private? Which is more useful — an account with tweets that can only be accessed by users you allow to follow you, or a public account with specific tweets shown to some eyes only?
Ease of setup
Here are your options:
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Make a private account on Twitter from the get go. Only allow specific people to follow you.
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Make your public account on Twitter private, allowing everyone who once walked through your follow gates to stay.
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Add up to 150 people into your Twitter Circles.
There is simply no argument here. Making your public account on Twitter private is by far the easiest way to set up a safe shit-talking space on the social media app. It’s not difficult to add people to a Circle, but it is a little agonizing right now. You have to manually add each and every person by scrolling through a list of mutuals, which is too time-consuming. Going with a private account is literally as easy as pressing a button.
Community
There are two ways to set up a private account on Twitter, and one ensures far more community-building opportunities than the other. The first way is to create an account as a private account from the beginning and only allow in the most exclusive followers; the second, and potentially more fun way, is to take your public account that may have followers you don’t know queued in, and make it private.
For Twitter Circles, all you need to do is add your friends to your top 150 and you’ll be connected. But this is practically like sending a message to a really big group chat; you’re likely talking to people who are already in your network; who are already members of your community.
If you’re looking to grow a community and become closer with a larger swath of people, the most effective way is to make your public account private. Sure, you might not know everyone immediately, but that little lock next to your name makes followers feel like they’ve been invited into a secret little club.
And, as a user with a private account, you’ll be pretty elite. According to a recent poll from Pew Research Center, a majority of Twitter users have a public profile.
That said, Circles have their advantages from a community standpoint, too. First of all, if your account is private from the start, you have to tell people about it and manually accept their follow requests, which is a pain. It’s especially bad when you have to decline a request because that person might be offended and you might have to explain it to them. That really sucks. It’s arguably more cumbersome than just adding some people to a Circle and calling it a day.
Turning a well-followed public account into a private one may be as easy as flipping a switch, but it’s got downsides. There will be undesirables in the crowd reading those tweets because you probably didn’t carefully curate your following beforehand. The benefit of Circles is that you get to choose exactly who sees each of those tweets. You have full control. You are the lord of a little online kingdom. That may not appeal to everyone, but it’s a nice option to have.
Privacy
Anything you post online has the chance to become completely public. Screenshots exist. But there are benefits to having a private account or tweeting only to your Circle in order to ensure some small level of privacy and protection.
Your most secure bet if you value privacy is to start with a private account. You’ll have the most control over who sees your tweets that way. A Circle is the second-most private option here because, while you have final say over who is in the Circle, there’s room for website or user error here. Circles are a relatively new feature and there’s always a slim possibility that Circle tweets could one day become public, or you could accidentally post a public tweet that was meant for your Circle.
Oh, and the needs of your followers matter here, too. You can be added to a Circle without your consent, so you might see things you don’t want to see.
The least private option here is to take your public account and lock it down — you never know how many haters are lurking in your follows. The most private way really depends on how you use a private account versus a Twitter Circle, but nothing beats a fully locked-down account. If you trust each person you’ve added to your following list, you should be solid.
The verdict
Overall, a private account has to be the winner here. That option has been around for a lot longer than Circles, so strategies and etiquette for running a successful private account are common knowledge at this point. Circles are still in their infancy; it will take years before they’re as established as a locked account, assuming Twitter lasts that long.
Whether you go with a locked account or a Twitter Circle for your spicy rants, always be careful. You never know who might end up seeing that content someday.
