what are twitter replies and mentions

You can join conversations on Twitter by replying to others and by mentioning them in your own Tweets.

Reply overview

• A reply is a response to another person’s Tweet. You can reply by clicking or tapping the reply icon  from a Tweet.
• When you reply to someone else, your Tweet will show the message Replying to… when viewed in your profile page timeline. When someone replies to one of your Tweets you will see Replying to you above the Tweet and you will receive a notification in your Notifications tab.
• When two people are replying to one another, only relevant people, such as those who follow the person who replied and the person in the conversation, will see the reply in their timeline.
• If you click or tap on a reply in your timeline, it will expand to display the Tweet that was replied to.
• Replies from people with protected Tweets will only be visible to their followers.
• If someone sends you a reply and you are not following them, the reply will not appear in your Home timeline. Instead, the reply will appear in your Notifications tab.

How to post a reply

1. Find the Tweet you want to reply to.
2. Click the reply icon 
3. A compose box will pop up, type in your message and click or tap Reply to post it.

Hidden replies

Tweet authors have the option to hide replies to their Tweets. Everyone can still access hidden replies through the hidden reply icon, which shows up on the original Tweet when there are hidden replies. Additionally, the Tweet author can unhide a reply at any time. When a Tweet author hides a reply, the author of the reply will not be notified. 

How to hide a reply

1. From a reply to one of your Tweets, click or tap the  icon.
2. Select hide reply and confirm.
3. To view your hidden replies, click or tap the hidden reply icon   which will be available in the bottom-right of your original Tweet.  

How to unhide a reply

1. Click or tap the hidden reply icon 
2. Click or tap the  icon from the reply you’d like to unhide.
3. Select Unhide reply.

When hidden replies won’t be available within the hidden reply page

• Hidden replies from a protected account will not be available within the hidden replies page, which is behind the hidden reply icon Similarly, if a hidden reply is then deleted by the author, it will also no longer show up in that section.
• If you hide a reply and that account mutes or blocks you, you’ll be unable to view or unhide that reply. 

When hidden replies will have a notice

• A hidden reply will be replaced by a notice, which is a message stating the Tweet is unavailable, when viewed from the Home timeline only when another account replies to it (which can be done from the hidden reply page). 
• If a hidden reply is not replied to by anyone else, it will not be replaced by a notice in the Home timeline. 

Note: This feature is available via Twitter for iOS, Twitter for Android, and twitter.com. This feature is not available on Tweetdeck.

Mention overview

• A mention is a Tweet that contains another person’s username anywhere in the body of the Tweet. 
• We collect these messages, as well as all your replies, in your Notifications tab.
• If you include multiple usernames in your Tweet, all of those people will see your Tweet in their Notifications tab.
• Visiting another account’s profile page on Twitter will not display Tweets that mention them. However, you can search Twitter for Tweets mentioning their username. Read more about using search.

How to post a mention

1. Type your message in the Tweet compose box. 
2. Type the “@” symbol before the username(s) when addressing a particular account(s). Example: “I’m Tweeting on @Twitter!”
3. Click or tap Tweet to post.
   Note: If your Tweet is a reply, the icon to post will say Reply. When posted, the username in your Tweet will become a link to the account’s profile page.

Things to note

• Visiting another account’s profile page on Twitter will not display Tweets that mention them. However, you can search Twitter for Tweets mentioning their username. Read more about using Twitter search.
• Replies from people with protected Tweets will only be visible to their approved followers.
• If someone sends you a reply and you are not following them, the reply will not appear in your Home timeline. Instead, the reply will appear in your Notifications tab.

Push notifications for conversations

1. In the top menu, tap your profile icon.
2. Tap Settings and privacy.
3. Tap Notifications, then tap Push notifications.
4. Tap Mentions and replies.
5. Drag the slider to turn on the setting.