Twitter may be experimenting with a way for users who don't want to be tagged in a thread to untag themselves. According to a screenshot obtained by The Verge, a new "leave this conversation" feature would untag your username from a Twitter conversation, preventing people from mentioning you in the conversation again and preventing you from receiving notifications about it.
The feature appears to be distinct from "mute this conversation," an existing feature that disables notifications for a thread in which you've been mentioned.
According to a follow-up tweet, leaving the conversation causes your Twitter handle to appear as plain text in the tweet where you're mentioned, rather than the hyperlink that would normally appear if someone tapped your handle. This may cause friction, preventing other users from dragging you into side conversations and signalling that you aren't interested in participating.
Twitter has gradually added subtle controls over how other users interact with your account. This includes changes that make existing options easier to use, such as forcing a user to unfollow you, as well as limits on replies and notifications when a large account retweets you. This feature would be on the more dramatic end of the spectrum, but it would also provide an option that many users would appreciate if they were tagged in an annoying thread.
