Slipstream is a simple Chrome extension that enables you to hide posts in Twitter according to a given parameter. When the extension is installed, a “Hide” button appears below posts from people you follow in Twitter. Here’s a quick tour of this handy function. After installing the extension from the Chrome Webstore, go to Twitter and log in to your account. You will notice a box below your profile on the left side for Slipstream. Under “Start hiding things from your timeline”, click Sign in to Twitter.
On the next page, click Sign in again. There is no need to re-enter your user name and password.
You should now be taken back to your Twitter home screen. Now, the Slipstream widget to the left has an option to “Hide Some Tweets”. Click on this to start customizing hidden tweets.
A popup should appear. It lets you decide if you want to hide tweets from everyone, or a specific user about anything or a certain keyword/topic, be it in your home timeline or one for the lists. These options can be selected from the drop down choices before clicking on “Hide those tweets”.
The hide setting should now appear on the sidebar. You can edit or delete them from the list by clicking on the appropriate link below each hidden tweet. Another way to hide tweets as you scroll through your timeline is by clicking on the Hide button on the bottom of each post. Click on this to hide the post. You will get the same popup window to further customize the hide settings.
That’s it! Hidden tweets can also be assigned for individual lists or the entire timeline. If you find the hidden settings list on the Slipstream sidebar distracting, there’s a Collapse button on the upper right corner that hides the list. With the amount of spammers, bots and anyone with something to sell on Twitter, Slipstream is a welcome solution. As a feature that previously was only available in standalone Twitter clients such as Tweetcaster and HootSuite, this extension gets the job done just as well without the hassle of installing additional software. Twitter should be a place for sharing genuine interests with like-minded people. Unfortunately, this is not always the case, as it’s also a platform that’s susceptible to spammy and questionable content. Slipstream provides not just a solution, but a reason for people to start using Twitter again, and read about what truly matters to them.
