4 ms·

Not a single thing about harassment. Why? Does Twitter's technical leadership think the problem is that irrelevant that it's not worth putting on the roadmap? D

Not a single thing about harassment. Why? Does Twitter's technical leadership think the problem is that irrelevant that it's not worth putting on the roadmap? Does the media care so little about it that they don't ask the questions? My view is that Twitter has a big problem with harassment. I want to know what Twitter plans to do about it.

hayksaakian 12y ago
I don't mean to be cynical, but mass harassment is a problem for a very small percentage of twitter users. From a business perspective what is the incentive for twitter to solve such a problem?
- nemo 12y ago
  "From a business perspective what is the incentive for twitter to solve such a problem?" From a business perspective, being perceived as a platform for trolls and harassment is really bad for the brand - even if its a minority of users who are causally throwing out rape threats and other abusive garbage at other users, they are incredibly toxic.
- MBCook 12y ago
  Morals? Basic humanity? If you're platform is one of the largest online tools of harassment and death threats you have an issue. It's only a matter of time before some lawsuits name them or they get investigated by AGs for negligence/willfully blindness. Either way it DOES drive users away.
aikah 12y ago
> My view is that Twitter has a big problem with harassment. I want to know what Twitter plans to do about it. I don't know if Twitter does that,but they could have a function so that people only receive tweets from people they follow at first place,while keeping their tweet public. Anyway, people take twitter way too seriously. It's the internet, anonymous people are going to be mean.
- ssully 12y ago
  I have had some harsh stuff said to me on the internet, but it doesn't compare to the things high profile twitter users get said at them. It's really easy to dismiss the severity of something when you aren't on the receiving end.
- wpietri 12y ago
  You may have not noticed yet, but it no longer 1996, where "the Internet" is some weird thing that has little relation to mainstream society. Many, many people cannot just say, "Well gosh, this Internet thing is mean, I will quit it." Their participation is professionally necessary. Twitter is trying to provide a major global platform for conversation. In doing so, they have also accidentally created a smashing tool for organizing and committing harassment and abuse. If they really want to play in the big leagues, they are going to have to solve that.
  - aikah 12y ago
    Internet opinion hardly matters in most cases.People should be paying too much attention on internet drama. Twitter included. If you don't like that,nobody's forcing anyone to use Twitter.
    - wpietri 12y ago
      It's always handy when replies give no sign of having read my comment, let alone thought it through. It saves me the time of writing a real response.
nemo 12y ago
I think the article didn't mention it since Twitter has released a number of changes since Dec. to work on improving handling of harassment with the streamlining of the block/report UI, higher prioritization of handling abusive/threatening posts, and new harassment policies. Internally they have been formulating plans to do more. No idea how things will pan out, but Twitter is clearly working on it.
mikeyouse 12y ago
Dick Costolo talked about it on their most recent call; We suck at dealing with abuse and trolls on the platform and we've sucked at it for years. It's no secret and the rest of the world talks about it every day. We lose core user after core user by not addressing simple trolling issues that they face every day. I'm frankly ashamed of how poorly we've dealt with this issue during my tenure as CEO. It's absurd. There's no excuse for it. I take full responsibility for not being more aggressive on this front. It's nobody else's fault but mine, and it's embarrassing. We're going to start kicking these people off right and left and making sure that when they issue their ridiculous attacks, nobody hears them. Everybody on the leadership team knows this is vital. Whether or not they come up with a solution or prioritize it with their technical team remains to be seen, but I think it's a very good start that the CEO has claimed personal responsibility for the issue. From: http://www.theverge.com/2015/2/4/7982099/twitter-ceo-sent-memo-taking-personal-responsibility-for-the http://www.theverge.com/2015/2/4/7982099/twitter-ceo-sent-me...
- MBCook 12y ago
  Despite this being s problem for YEARS they are only now admitting it and have only started to take anise reports semi-seriously. So far it looks like too-little-too-late PR and nothing more.
  - rtpg 12y ago
    You don't think they're going to start doing something? I think Twitter realises that they've lost a lot of high-profile people as users because of this. At least for me, one of the great things about Twitter is being able to interact with otherwise inapproachable people (if only due to the friction of sending/replying to e-mail). Even if it's just to make a bad pun. Having that poisoned by people parroting "ethics in video game journalism" makes me pretty sad.

hayksaakian 12y ago

I don't mean to be cynical, but mass harassment is a problem for a very small percentage of twitter users. From a business perspective what is the incentive for twitter to solve such a problem?

nemo 12y ago
"From a business perspective what is the incentive for twitter to solve such a problem?" From a business perspective, being perceived as a platform for trolls and harassment is really bad for the brand - even if its a minority of users who are causally throwing out rape threats and other abusive garbage at other users, they are incredibly toxic.
MBCook 12y ago
Morals? Basic humanity? If you're platform is one of the largest online tools of harassment and death threats you have an issue. It's only a matter of time before some lawsuits name them or they get investigated by AGs for negligence/willfully blindness. Either way it DOES drive users away.

aikah 12y ago

> My view is that Twitter has a big problem with harassment. I want to know what Twitter plans to do about it. I don't know if Twitter does that,but they could have a function so that people only receive tweets from people they follow at first place,while keeping their tweet public. Anyway, people take twitter way too seriously. It's the internet, anonymous people are going to be mean.

ssully 12y ago
I have had some harsh stuff said to me on the internet, but it doesn't compare to the things high profile twitter users get said at them. It's really easy to dismiss the severity of something when you aren't on the receiving end.
wpietri 12y ago
You may have not noticed yet, but it no longer 1996, where "the Internet" is some weird thing that has little relation to mainstream society. Many, many people cannot just say, "Well gosh, this Internet thing is mean, I will quit it." Their participation is professionally necessary. Twitter is trying to provide a major global platform for conversation. In doing so, they have also accidentally created a smashing tool for organizing and committing harassment and abuse. If they really want to play in the big leagues, they are going to have to solve that.
- aikah 12y ago
  Internet opinion hardly matters in most cases.People should be paying too much attention on internet drama. Twitter included. If you don't like that,nobody's forcing anyone to use Twitter.
  - wpietri 12y ago
    It's always handy when replies give no sign of having read my comment, let alone thought it through. It saves me the time of writing a real response.

nemo 12y ago

I think the article didn't mention it since Twitter has released a number of changes since Dec. to work on improving handling of harassment with the streamlining of the block/report UI, higher prioritization of handling abusive/threatening posts, and new harassment policies. Internally they have been formulating plans to do more. No idea how things will pan out, but Twitter is clearly working on it.

mikeyouse 12y ago

Dick Costolo talked about it on their most recent call; We suck at dealing with abuse and trolls on the platform and we've sucked at it for years. It's no secret and the rest of the world talks about it every day. We lose core user after core user by not addressing simple trolling issues that they face every day. I'm frankly ashamed of how poorly we've dealt with this issue during my tenure as CEO. It's absurd. There's no excuse for it. I take full responsibility for not being more aggressive on this front. It's nobody else's fault but mine, and it's embarrassing. We're going to start kicking these people off right and left and making sure that when they issue their ridiculous attacks, nobody hears them. Everybody on the leadership team knows this is vital. Whether or not they come up with a solution or prioritize it with their technical team remains to be seen, but I think it's a very good start that the CEO has claimed personal responsibility for the issue. From: http://www.theverge.com/2015/2/4/7982099/twitter-ceo-sent-memo-taking-personal-responsibility-for-the http://www.theverge.com/2015/2/4/7982099/twitter-ceo-sent-me...

MBCook 12y ago
Despite this being s problem for YEARS they are only now admitting it and have only started to take anise reports semi-seriously. So far it looks like too-little-too-late PR and nothing more.
- rtpg 12y ago
  You don't think they're going to start doing something? I think Twitter realises that they've lost a lot of high-profile people as users because of this. At least for me, one of the great things about Twitter is being able to interact with otherwise inapproachable people (if only due to the friction of sending/replying to e-mail). Even if it's just to make a bad pun. Having that poisoned by people parroting "ethics in video game journalism" makes me pretty sad.