If you've ever tweeted something seemingly innocuous and it caused a firestorm of unwelcome attention, then you know that Twitter users will be fighting about everything. It is the internet's most popular destination for low-information, high-speed opinion slinging.
Twitter has been trying to reduce the toxicity of the platform. The latest experiment provides some pointers for users before they get into messy tweet battles. The test prompts may be available on both Android and iOS apps of Twitter.
Do you want to get a feel for the tone of a conversation before joining in? We tested prompts for iOS and Android that alert you when the conversation might get heated or intense. As we work to improve healthy conversation, this is still a work in process. pic.twitter.com/x6Nsn3HPu1 Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) October 6, 2021
According to the company, the goal is to warn people before they start a heated or intense conversation. This could include anything from dangerous health misinformation to recipes for guacamole. Twitter stated that its goal is to encourage healthy conversation, just as it has done before.
The test labels are displayed under tweets and warn users that intense conversations can result. In displaying the prompt, the company may consider the topic of the tweet and the relationship between the author and the replier.
Twitter has previously tested other behavior-shaping prompts, including pop ups that discourage users from posting hateful or harassing replies. Although targeted pop-ups can be a powerful tool for slowing down some of the most toxic social media patterns, there are many other solutions that will work, given the sheer number of people who are utterly insane online.
