Twitter has become one of the primary platforms for furious debates among netizens and celebrities worldwide.
RPG Group Chairman Harsh Goenka recently took to Twitter to share his mantra for navigating the toxicity unleashed on the micro-blogging platform.
“Many tell me Twitter is toxic,” he tweeted. “I agree partly but (it) depends on what you do with it. Try to follow people who inspire and motivate you. Engage with people you can learn from. Create positive friendships. Block negative people and do not indulge in mindless scrolling and abusing.”
Keeping off trolls
The social media gyan was well received by his followers, many of whom agreed to keep away from trolls, and instead leverage the benefits of the platform. Others lauded Goenka for his take on the matter.
Twitter user Malaecah (@Malaecah267) said in a reply: “Well said follow good and intelligent people so that you can learn many things. There are many toxic but we have to choose good ones.”
“Twitter has become an amazing platform to share your original thoughts/feelings/opinions across the globe & more so with like-minded fraternity/experts and instantly get the responses/ acceptance to your inputs,” tweeted another user, Sadanand D Dolhare (@SadanandDolhare).
Over the years, many cases of abusive tweets and hate speech on the platform have been reported. For example, a 2018 study by Amnesty International on 778 women journalists and politicians in the US and UK reported that 7.1 per cent of the tweets addressed to the women over the year were abusive or problematic. The study had also reported that women of colour were 34 per cent more likely to be harassed on the platform than white women.
Curbing abuse
Twitter is tackling the issue of online abuse. The micro-blogging platform recently announced a range of features to curb abuse, including limiting the replies one can receive for a tweet.
According to a report by The Verge, Twitter recently said that it had improved its technology for automated flagging and removal of abusive tweets before they are reported by the user. Its automated moderation platform can now flag more than 50 per cent of tweets identified as abusive and take them down before a user reports them.
Source: The Hindu
