Twitter test asks you to ‘rethink’ sending mean replies
No, it’s not an edit button.
Twitter is testing a new feature that could reduce bullying and harassment on its platform. Under the experiment, the company will ask users if they want to “rethink” replies before they hit send on potentially offensive tweets.
“To let you rethink a reply, we’re running a limited experiment on iOS with a prompt that gives you the option to revise your reply before it’s published if it uses language that could be harmful,” the company wrote.
When things get heated, you may say things you don't mean. To let you rethink a reply, we’re running a limited experiment on iOS with a prompt that gives you the option to revise your reply before it’s published if it uses language that could be harmful.
— Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) May 5, 2020
The feature is similar to an anti-bullying feature Instagram introduced last year. The photo sharing app uses AI to detect language that might be offensive and asks users to rethink the comment before they hit send. Twitter’s version will look for words “similar to those in posts that have been reported,” according to Reuters.
Twitter has long struggled with harassment, and for years has experimented with a number of features in order to improve “conversational health.” The latest experiment is launching now to a subset of Twitter’s iOS users in the United States.
