Twitter Circle may be starting to roll out to more users

Twitter started testing Circle earlier this month with a limited group, and now it looks like it’s starting to roll out to more users (via android police). The feature works a lot like Instagram’s close friends in that it allows users to tweet to a specific group of people instead of all of Twitter.

At this time, it is unclear how many people currently have access to Circle. It seems that plus users (myself included) finally see the feature appear when they start to compose a tweet, but some users they still report that they still don’t have access. Twitter spokesman Joseph Nunez said the edge it is still in testing. “We’re still testing Twitter Circle with a group of people across iOS, Android and Web globally,” Nunez said. “The feature has not yet been widely rolled out to everyone as we continue to gather feedback.”

To check if you have access to Twitter Circle, update your Twitter app or go to Twitter in a web browser. When you start to compose a tweet, you’ll see a dropdown menu at the top that says All the world. From here you can choose twitter circle to limit your tweet to a selected audience, or you can press Edit to add or remove people from your circle. Twitter will not notify users if you add or remove them.

You can add up to 150 users to your Circle, whether they follow you or not. Users in your circle will see a note attached to circle-only tweets (and vice versa), stating: “Only people in @[yourusername]The Twitter Circle can see this tweet.” Tweeting to your Circle is almost like having a private account, only it makes certain tweets private instead of limiting access to your entire profile.

People in your circle won’t be able to retweet anything you post in it, but they will be able to take screenshots and download your tweets. It’s also important to note that Twitter’s community guidelines still apply even if you send your tweets to a smaller audience.

Update May 28, 5:27 pm ET: Updated to add a statement from a Twitter spokesperson, as well as to reflect that Circle has not yet rolled out to everyone.