The problem with the setting was that it didn’t scale and even if we rebuilt it, the feature was blunt. It was confusing and caused a sense of inconsistency. We felt we could do much better.
Twitter Creative Director Biz Stone • On the actual reason Twitter removed that @replies feature the other day – functionality was only part of the reason. The real reason is that there was some technical stuff that was slowing down the site. (And as users of the site’s search function, we’ve noticed. Sigh.) Now, everyone’s just a little ticked off and Twitter forgot the lesson that they should know better than anyone else – people complain on Twitter a lot, and honesty is the best policy. • source
Retweet this if you disagree w Twitter’s decision to hide replies to ppl you don’t follow. #fixreplies
A current retweet floating around Twitter • After the announcement that Twitter would hide replies from people you don’t follow yesterday, a decision that seemed arbitrary and caused many people to shake their fists in anger. However, compared to a Facebook dramabomb, this is comparatively nothing. • source