Twitter Eggs and trolls are now finally getting the banhammer they deserve
Imagine a Twitter in which, get this:
Your reports of abuse get a response from Twitter.
You can mute certain phrases from your feed.
And: No. More. Twitter. Eggs.
Well, that Twitter is coming. And it's coming soon.
The company just detailed a new set of changes to reduce harassment on its platform. Among them: Users who report abusive tweets and accounts will finally get some feedback on their reports.
That feedback will take two forms: Users will first see a notification confirming their report is received—then they'll see a followup notification, if Twitter decided to take action as a result of their report. If Twitter doesn't take action, you won't see an additional update after your report is received.
Here's what those notifications will look like when they roll out "in the coming weeks."
That may seem forehead-slappingly obvious, but it's a significant departure from previous policies where those who reported harassment often had little way of knowing whether their reports had any effect. By adding even minimal feedback into the reporting process, Twitter's addressing what's long been one of the top complaints from users who've faced harassment (the company had previously confirmed reports via email but those who reported harassment against others weren't privy to updates.)
The company's also updating its mute feature, so users can mute specific words or phrases from their main feed, and choose how long they want those terms to be hidden. The feature, which already exists for notifications, also has the added benefit of helping people avoid spoilers without giving up Twitter entirely.
And speaking of notifications: Twitter introduced new filtering options to weed out certain types of tweets you may not want to see. With the change, also expected in the coming weeks, users can opt to hide tweets from accounts without profile photos or those that aren't linked to a verified phone number or email address.
In other words: No more Twitter eggs.
Finally, Twitter's VP of Engineering Ed Ho offered a few more details on how the new "timeout" feature, which temporarily prevents accounts from tweeting at non-followers, works.
"For example, this change could come into effect if an account is repeatedly Tweeting without solicitation at non-followers or engaging in patterns of abusive behavior that is in violation of the Twitter Rules," Ho wrote on Twitter's blog.
The company declined to provide further details on what types of behavior could earn a user a temporary restriction, but Ho noted the feature, which has been met with some controversy already, is still in an early stage.
"We aim to only act on accounts when we’re confident, based on our algorithms, that their behavior is abusive. Since these tools are new we will sometimes make mistakes, but know that we are actively working to improve and iterate on them everyday."
Topics X/Twitter
Karissa was Mashable's Senior Tech Reporter, and is based in San Francisco. She covers social media platforms, Silicon Valley, and the many ways technology is changing our lives. Her work has also appeared in Wired, Macworld, Popular Mechanics, and The Wirecutter. In her free time, she enjoys snowboarding and watching too many cat videos on Instagram. Follow her on Twitter @karissabe.
