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Twitter test makes it loud and clear when you've made a mistake

By Brittany Roston/

Twitter has revealed yet another test, this one that makes it very easy to tell when you've done something that has jeopardized your account. Those who are part of this test may see a new banner above their account's feed if they've had their account locked or suspended, as well as what the penalty means and how the user can proceed in light of it.

Twitter is home to an ever-expanding list of rules and guidelines for using the platform. Violating these rules may result in the company reviewing your account and, if a violation is identified, action being taken against it. This could, depending on the infraction, involve temporarily locking your account or, in more extreme cases, suspending it entirely.

If either of these actions are applied against your account, you may see a new banner above your tweet feed that boldly states you've been locked or permanently suspended. Each banner includes what kind of penalty has been applied, such as whether the account will eventually be unlocked, while making it clear that you'll be unable to interact with others' tweets.

The account suspension banner includes a direct link to Twitter's appeal system so that users who disagree with the action can attempt to get it reversed. The banner also notes that suspended users can't make new accounts, though, of course, that doesn't actually stop trolls as they can simply sign up with a different email address.

It's unclear how many Twitter users are included in this test. As with any test, it is possible that it won't go on to become a standard feature for all users or that a more widespread rollout may involve a modified version of the banner.

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