After nearly 15 years, Twitter is introducing measures to cut down on misinformation and toxic behaviour
The attraction for Kutcher and other famous people back in 2009 is the same thing that draws in users today: reach. Not only can you amass an audience, but there is a mechanism, the retweet, to get your message beyond your fans. Retweets, when a Twitter user broadcasts someone else’s message to her followers, also happen to be ideal for spreading misinformation and encouraging harassment. Dunks are just retweets with a dollop of mockery on top.
“Social media companies don’t have an obvious stake in what we become when we use their products,” Wetherell says. “Like if people become radical and they abandon truth, the companies aren’t harmed, because often outraged people use their product more.” The prompt led to a 26% increase in quote tweets and a 23% decrease in retweets, Twitter said, but quote tweets and retweets in total declined 20%.
“Want to review this before tweeting?” the warning asks. The intervention seems to be working: in 34% of cases, people either edit their post or do not send it at all, Twitter says.
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