How to Make Your Tweets Private

A default Twitter account is pretty much an open book:

• Anyone (even people without a Twitter account) can access your home page and view
• your tweets.
• Each time you post a tweet it appears briefly on Twitter’s public timeline for all the world
• to see.
• Anyone with a Twitter account can follow your tweets.

Most tweeters are fine with this, but you might prefer a less-open approach. If so, you can configure
your Twitter account to protect your tweets. This means your account is much more private:

• Only people who follow you can access your home page and view your tweets.
• Your tweets never appear on Twitter’s public timeline.
• People who want to follow you must send a request, and you can then either approve or
• decline that request.

If you like the sound of all that, here are the steps to follow to protect your tweets:

1. Sign in to your Twitter account.
2. Click Settings. The Settings page appears.
3. Click the Account tab.
4. Select the Protect My Tweets check box.
5. Click Save. Twitter tweets your profile to protect your tweets.
 

Now when a nonfollower tries to access your Twitter home page, he or she sees the message like this

If that person wants to follow you, he or she must click the Send request button. When that happens, you see a 1 new follower request! message in your home page sidebar. Click that link and then click either Accept or Decline. Twitter also sends you an e-mail message letting you know you have a follower request. That message includes a link that you can click to accept or decline the request.