We all know that Twitter trolls are nothing new, but they’ve become such a prevalent problem that Twitter has now hired experts from universities in the U.S., the Netherlands, Italy and elsewhere to figure out where these people are coming from and how to keep hate speech from happening.
According to Twitter’s statement in March that asked for help to understand its toxicity got 230 proposal responses, and has now chosen the experts, many of which specialize in tech, politics or social media. Much of the research will focus on “echo chambers,” or conversations among like-minded people (who “echo” each other’s opinions) and then start to become toxic to those who have different perspectives.
The Verge notes, however, that the research will also define a line between “uncivil” and “intolerant” discourse, the latter being hate speech while the former needs to be checked, but can be helpful against creating those echo chambers.
Ultimately, the researchers are hoping to find the origination of these echo chambers—how many people are in them? Who on Twitter actually talks to those with perspectives different from their own? While there’s no firm deadline for their findings yet, the need for these answers is becoming more urgent as Twitter tries various methods to rid itself of hate speech, such as limiting the visibility of hate speech Tweets.
There are two main research groups at work here: one is led by Leiden University professor Dr. Rebekah Tromble from the Netherlands. The other is led by professors at the University of Amsterdam and the University of Oxford, which will also look into echo chambers but have a slightly different focus—they want to see the effects of positive, diverse interaction online.
It’s good to see that Twitter is taking action to better itself, especially because many people are not pleased with the platform’s approach to its own toxicity. Last year, Twitter came under fire for verifying a Neo-Nazi from the Charlottesville rally. This move shows that they are (hopefully) more aware of their role in exacerbating these echo chambers and toxic political discussions.