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Interesting article. However, what the author fails to realize is that Twitter shouldn't be banning users in the first place-- that's not their job. Their job i

Interesting article. However, what the author fails to realize is that Twitter shouldn't be banning users in the first place-- that's not their job. Their job is to provide a service that people can use to communicate; policing content on the site should not be a technology company's job. If you dislike what someone says, simply unfollow them, and they will disappear from your sight. It's as simple as that-- out of the billions of people in the world, there are definitely going to be millions of people that hate you simply because of your race, beliefs, or country. Simply do not follow these people if you don't want to see "abuse". Just because people are offended by what conservatives may say does not mean that freedom of speech should be limited. "I disagree with what you say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it" and all that. We, as programmers and computer scientists (and some web developers) need to stop deciding or worrying about what people are and aren't allowed to say-- and that goes for Twitter, too.

a_bonobo 11y ago
>Simply do not follow these people if you don't want to see "abuse". I don't think that's the solution of abuse, or even the source - trolls on Twitters keep on making new accounts to @mention their "targets" with vitriol/threats of violence/etc. The attacked can keep on blocking these new accounts, but that's it. By default the Notifications tab has everyone mentioning you - you can set that to "People you follow", but then you can't interact with your audience, which is the major feature of Twitter. If I do, let's say, science communication on Twitter, I want to be able to interact with every "stranger".
- x5n1 11y ago
  need ai or Bayesian filter to detect such attacks and block them from most users. But leave the user and feed alone, just make sure the target of the attack and the general public never see the messages. Much like a shadow ban.
  - majewsky 11y ago
    I'm skeptical of any form of filtering or censorship. How can you know which rules the algorithm abides by? If it's some deep-learning-based AI, how would even Twitter know exactly which rules the AI abides by? A more transparent solution could be a prominent warning mark on tweets from people who have more people blocking them than following them.
hga 11y ago
Just because people are offended by what conservatives may say And from reports I've read, you can claim a tweet is harassing you simply because of a difference of opinion. Although it occured to me that would make a great trap to weed out bogus complaints.

a_bonobo 11y ago

>Simply do not follow these people if you don't want to see "abuse". I don't think that's the solution of abuse, or even the source - trolls on Twitters keep on making new accounts to @mention their "targets" with vitriol/threats of violence/etc. The attacked can keep on blocking these new accounts, but that's it. By default the Notifications tab has everyone mentioning you - you can set that to "People you follow", but then you can't interact with your audience, which is the major feature of Twitter. If I do, let's say, science communication on Twitter, I want to be able to interact with every "stranger".

x5n1 11y ago
need ai or Bayesian filter to detect such attacks and block them from most users. But leave the user and feed alone, just make sure the target of the attack and the general public never see the messages. Much like a shadow ban.
- majewsky 11y ago
  I'm skeptical of any form of filtering or censorship. How can you know which rules the algorithm abides by? If it's some deep-learning-based AI, how would even Twitter know exactly which rules the AI abides by? A more transparent solution could be a prominent warning mark on tweets from people who have more people blocking them than following them.

hga 11y ago

Just because people are offended by what conservatives may say And from reports I've read, you can claim a tweet is harassing you simply because of a difference of opinion. Although it occured to me that would make a great trap to weed out bogus complaints.