goodbye, friend

Gay Twitter™ mourns the loss of Circles—our favorite source of nudes and gossip

By · Updated on January 26, 2024
Man in white tee looking sad while looking at phone
Image Credit: Getty Images

RIP Twitter Circles, August 2022 – October 2023. Gone way too soon.

Yes, it’s a sad, sad day on the app formerly known as Twitter, as people everywhere mourn the loss of one of the social platform’s latest and greatest features, which allowed users to make their posts available to only a hand-picked list of accounts.

Like Instagram’s Close Friends feature, Circles was, on paper, intended for, well… your close friends. The idea being that you could tweet more private, intimate thoughts to a select few that you know and trust, without the threat of getting “ratio’d” our quote-tweeted into oblivion.

But it was an open secret that gays, in particular, were employing Circles for two specific reasons: To talk heinous amounts of sh*t, and to post their nudes. In some cases, we weren’t just adding our besties and mutuals to this curated list, but our Twitter crushes and thirst follows.

Instantaneously, Circles became an opportunity for the exhibitionism-curious to show off their goods in what felt like a safe and not-entirely-public way. And, hey, if what their posts inspired a hottie to slip into your DMs, then even better, right?

However, all good things must come to an end. And, as the prophecy foretold, today, October 31, 2023, X’s Circles has left this mortal coil. And on Halloween, no less! Spooky!

What happens to your Circle posts now that X has removed the feature?

First of all, don’t panic: Just because X users no longer have the ability to employ the feature, that doesn’t mean previous posts to Circles are suddenly public property.

(Can you imagine the chaos that would ensue if that were the case?)

Despite its removal, your Circles posts remain available in your feed solely to those who were already in your Circle—they will not go public. However, that does mean that you can no longer add to or edit your Circles list. So, whoever you wanted to see that thirst trap in the first place will still be able to view it, ad infinitum. (Unless of course you just decide to delete the tweet—your call!)

Yes, your secrets and your schlong shots are still safe with the (up to) 150 “friends” you chose to share them with in the first place, so you can rest easy.

Related:

Is Gay Twitter™ over? The frantic migration to Threads is starting, and then stopping

Meta’s new message app is viewed as the most likely to cut into Twitter.

Gay Twitter™ reacts to the loss of Circles

Man in denim shirt looking devastated at table while looking at a laptop.
Image Credit: Getty Images

Go easy on all the gay people in your life today—it’s been a rough one.

Ever since real-life James Bond villain Elon Musk took over the social media app, he’s implemented a number of changes that have made it a less user-friendly experience, especially for the LGBTQ+ community.

Previously banned accounts had been reinstated (including Tr*mp’s). With fewer parameters for language, there’s been a reported rise in hate speech and problematic content. Users can now pay for “Verified Badges,” meaning its harder to find trusted news sources and notable voices, clogging feeds with trolls and people purposely posting inflammatory content to drive engageement.

Related:

Everyone thinks Elon Musk’s Twitter rebrand looks like a gay hookup app

Twitter recently unveiled its new “X” logo/

Now, with Circles gone, it’s staring to really feel like there’s no point in sticking around. Will this finally be the death knell of Gay Twitter™? Will we have to find a new app to gossip, share memes, and post our nudes?

It’s starting to look dire…

It was barely here for a year, but Circles had quickly become an essential component of our online social lives. Without it, we have no outlet for our deepest, darkest, shadiest thoughts:

And don’t even get us started on the nudes—it sounds like a lot of folks took the opportunity to share some select photos to Circles while they still had the chance. And it was glorious.

Why have you done this to us, Elon? WHY?

Well, we’ll always remember the good times…

Goodbye Twitter Circles, you were too good for this world, too pure. X may never recover from this seismic loss.

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