Twitter Bug Resulting in Notifications Every Time Someone Unfollows a User, Fix Coming

Twitter's new bug could potentially break friendships.

By Harpreet Singh | Updated: 21 June 2019 00:20 IST

Twitter Bug Resulting in Notifications Every Time Someone Unfollows a User, Fix Coming

Twitter seems to have mixed up new follow notifications with unfollows

Highlights

A bug is causing Twitter users to receive notifications for unfollows
Twitter says it's aware of the issue, a fix is coming
The issue seems to be affecting select users only

Twitter allows users to follow anyone they like and receive updates whenever that person posts a tweet. One of the best things about Twitter is that you can also unfollow anyone without them knowing about it, except if they're actively using a third party tool to track unfollowers. But a recent glitch seems to be doing the opposite. Some Twitter users have reported that they received notifications when other users unfollow them on Twitter.

Normally, Twitter lets you set up notifications whenever someone follows you. Twitter also lets you set up notifications for a number of actions including mentions and replies, new tweets from specific accounts, likes, retweets, new followers, and more.

The recent bug, first spotted by Vice, seems to be mixing up new follower notifications with unfollows. Twitter users are reporting that they're receiving notifications for a new follower when in fact that person seems to have unfollowed them. We tried to replicate the issue but were unsuccessful. It could be limited to specific accounts for now. A Twitter spokesperson confirmed the bug to Vice, saying the company is working on it.

Twitter gives me notifications when people unfollow me saying that they followed me, it's the funniest thing ever. ????
— sheryse ????????‍♂️ (@shervse) June 16, 2019

Anyone else getting unfollow notifications now ? Interesting ????
— Wayne (@Waynos67) June 19, 2019

i just received a unfollow notification i can't believe this is a real thing now omg
— sab (@selenaflows) June 13, 2019

Several Twitter users are still reporting that they're receiving such notifications which means the bug hasn't been fixed yet. It's clearly an awkward moment if you're trying to silently unfollow someone for whatever reason.

While Twitter doesn't officially offer notifications for unfollows, users have been using third-party services to find out who unfollowed them. These third-party tools ask users to grant access to their Twitter account.

It's probably not a good idea to unfollow someone on Twitter right now, unless you don't mind them noticing. Twitter could fix the bug in the coming weeks. Until then, if you don't want to feel hurt by getting a notification that someone you're friends with has unfollowed you, you better turn off your notifications.

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Further reading: Twitter, Twitter Bug

Harpreet Singh

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Harpreet is the community manager at Gadgets 360. He loves all things tech, and can be found hunting for good deals when he is not shopping online. He has written about deals and e-commerce in India for many years, as well as covering social media and breaking technology news. More