It was
a long time coming but it's still good news that Twitter's finally rolling out
a supposed more effective way to protect its users.
Twitter has announced on its blog
last week a few welcome changes to how users can report harassment on their
site. So it finally got easier to report abuse even when you're a third-party
witness and even when you're using a smartphone.
The new
reporting tool has apparently been streamlined and redesigned for use in mobile
phones, according to a review from Bradley
Associates News Blog Information. So while it was a pain to file a
complaint before because of the lengthy questionnaire, the report form now
should be a breeze to complete. Users can even flag tweets even when it's not
directed at them.
Twitter
promises to review your complaint and address it faster than before, taking
down ones that have been flagged many times, for example. However, this update
is only applicable to a number of users at present.
As
indicated in their blog post: "We'll be adding more controls and features
to this page in the coming months. Additionally, accounts that you've blocked
won't be able to view your profile. The updates are available now for a small
group of users. In the coming weeks, we will roll them out to everyone."
Before,
even if a blocked user won't be able to follow you, he could still visit your
profile and view your public tweets but now that's not possible anymore --
provided of course that the blocked user is logged in and using the same
browser. The idea is, once a user has been blocked by someone, he won't even be
able to check the profile of the blocker. However, this could be circumvented
by creating a new user account every time you get blocked, or logging out and
then viewing the person's profile. The only consolation from that is a person
tends to get discouraged if he has to go the extra mile of logging out or using
another browser just to troll someone who has blocked them; ergo he's more
likely to stop.
"We
are nowhere near being done making changes in this area. In the coming months,
you can expect to see additional user controls, further improvements to
reporting and new enforcement procedures for abusive accounts. We'll continue
to work hard on these changes in order to improve the experience of people who
encounter abuse on Twitter," it said on the announcement post.
There
will also be a new page in your account which will contain all the blocked
users you have. From there, you can also either move accounts to mute or
restore them.
Twitter's
VP of trust and safety told Bradley Associates News Blog Information, "The
changes we're announcing today to our harassment reporting process and to our
block feature are representative of our broader focus on giving people more
control over their own Twitter experience, including their interactions with
others. We're also working to take advantage of more behavioral signals --
including reports from bystanders -- and using those signals to prioritize
reports and speed up our review process."
