Twitter Circles Is Broken, Revealing Private Nudes

Risman didn’t panic, but she didn’t want to force her “spicy” pictures on people. “It was, 'Oh my god, am I sticking my naked body out in front of a crowd of people?' – she said. “I organized my circles for people who I thought wouldn't mind, but the general public doesn't necessarily need to see me in my birthday suit.”

Melissa Ingle, who was a senior data scientist at Twitter before becoming CEO. Elon Musk initiated a series of layoffs in November 2022, calling the whole thing a “serious breach of confidentiality.” Ingle added: “Your circle is your trusted group of friends, and if you're seeing posts outside of that group, it means the algorithm is lacking basic functionality.”

For Riesman, the idea of ​​a functionality failure is not a surprise. “I long ago gave up the idea that everything I post online would forever remain a secret,” she said. “I was mentally preparing for moments like this. And it didn't bother me.” Riesman told her tweet The incident “was more of a public announcement for people who really rely on Twitter circles being a semi-private space, or at least a controlled public space.” Risman said she has many transgender friends, but they are not out, who post their gender in circles and could be outed due to a mistake.

How the problem with circles arose and how to solve it are pressing questions. A letter to the Twitter press department asking why a privacy violation occurred received a traditional automatic response poop emoticon.

Unfortunately, the failure of “Circles” is part of the way of life on the Internet, according to Ellen Walker, who studies online storytelling and digital culture curated by storytelling at the Royal College of Art in London. “Once closed digital spaces can be curated, they can be removed instantly, either through technological improvements, greater audience participation, or, as in the case of the Twitter Circles innovation, a serious failure on the part of moderating forces,” she said.

The impact is significant. “It would be one thing if this feature was simply removed and Twitter told its users about it, but if it happened suddenly and without warning, it would feel like a betrayal,” Ingle said. “Unfortunately, under Elon Musk, things like this are happening more and more often due to the severe staff cuts and lack of experience that he has introduced.” (Musk has fired or furloughed well more than half the company's total workforce since taking over in October 2022.)

Moussa also blames Musk's management for this. “It seems like the constant changes to the For You algorithm, whatever they wanted it to be, have just screwed everything up beyond belief,” he said. “This portends big security problems across the board. If you maintain a locked account, what guarantee do you have that it will stay locked? It's a violation. Trust is gone. No one can ever be sure this shit won't blow up completely in their face anymore.”

As for Riesman, she seemed more optimistic. “I think there's a part of us that's just expecting it now,” she said. “All of us who are still locked here, [on Twitter] know that this place is falling apart.”