In the past year, there have been many Twitter updates, like the one that stopped counting images and links as characters. Although this was a tweet-revolution, the most thoughtful update has to be their most recent one. Like any other social platform, Twitter is filled with anonymous online trolls who simply find pleasure in spreading hate speech and bullying others, including celebrities. Because of this, Twitter executives have come up with an update that will allow users to completely mute hate out of their feeds!
“The amount of abuse, bullying and harassment we’ve seen across the Internet has risen sharply over the past few years. These behaviors inhibit people from participating on Twitter, or anywhere.”
This statement is visible on Twitter’s blog post where they announce the new update.
Even though their statement mentions how the rising rate of online harassment and bullying is the reason for the update, it has come after recent elections and the bullying case of Leslie Jones. Throughout the election there were numerous candidates bickering back and forth, using Twitter as one of their platforms. This played a role in the spread of hate speech in relation to race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, religious affiliation, age, disabilities and, even, disease. Comedian and Actress Leslie Jones herself became a victim of sexist and racist abuse so strong that it drove her towards taking a break from social media.
The new update will feature:
- Expansion of Mute Option, which will allow for users to mute any notification based on keywords, phrases, conversations and even emojis.
- Stronger Support Team who are trained to better understand abusive language and will be responsible for investigating reports of code violations and re-enforcing those codes.
To activate your mute option, go to “Notifications” and then to “Settings.” Once there, select “Muted Words” and choose the phrases, words and emoticons you would like to mute.
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