Twitter Create Safety Centre to Curb Abuse
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Twitter have a fairly abysmal track record when it comes to dealing with online abuse. Their regulating tactics have been haphazard at best and the site has increasingly become a platform for some of the nastiest trolls the internet has to offer, consistently forcing people off and otherwise causing abject misery. It seems like somebody on the staff decided a new approach was needed.
They haven't added any new tools, as such, but they've created a new space to help users deal with online abuse when it rears its ugly head. This 'Safety Centre' includes advice and information about how best to deal with this kind of thing, as well as a list of what is and isn't admissible on Twitter.
Some of the information is based on other online safety ideas that they were already pushing, but weren't necessarily particularly easy to find. The ethos seems to surround the fact that Twitter are keen to increase their appeal to teenagers. Twitter falls well below Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat for teen usage, according Pew, so it's not clear whether this is a case of attracting more teens to the platform or keeping the ones already active interested. In either case, it's a step in the right direction.
Better education about online safety is important to promote anyway, it's fair to suggest that the frequency of online abuse would likely take a hit if more people knew how to address it, but better knowledge of reporting and appropriate responses will only get you so far. It seems like part of the reason Twitter are electing to handle it this way is so they have something to fall back on the next time the lawyers come a'knocking. End and means I suppose.
As well as teens, the safety centre also has areas catering specifically to educators and parents, in order to help make the platform a safer place for kids to browse in any environment. Initially the service has been made available on 'some of the most-used languages on Twitter' but they plan to add 'even more languages over time.'
Callum Davies
Callum is a film school graduate who is now making a name for himself as a journalist and content writer. His vices include flat whites and 90s hip-hop. Follow him @CallumAtSMF
Twitter Create Safety Centre to Curb Abuse
Reviewed by Unknown
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Wednesday, July 22, 2015
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Reviewed by Unknown
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Wednesday, July 22, 2015
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Unknown
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