- The BirdWatch feature by Twitter combats misinformation
- Users can add tweets to ‘Birdwatch’ section
- It tracks down the misleading tweets to monitor misinformation
- The feature was first uncovered by Jane Manchun Wong
Misinformation and fake news are some of the most common nowadays. It uncontrollably spread on social platforms without proper monitoring. The new Birdwatch feature to be launched by twitter will ensure that no misinformation reaches readers. This feature was first uncovered in summer by a reverse engineer Jane Machun Wong. It has an interface for flagging and voting tweets based on whether it’s misleading or not.
However, it’s still unclear whether everyone will be given access to annotate tweets. According to Chris Messina, an early twitter adopter and a hashtag inventor this feature will act like a “citizen watch”.
Information regarding this feature is still unclear about how it is going to work on a non-technical basis or how this system will be handled and what will happen to false or incendiary statements if it has too many negative things.
How the Birdwatch feature is going to work?
Social media consultant Matt Navara tweeted several screenshots of the feature to make it clear to the users, how it’s going to work. According to this, Birdwatch will allow the users to attach notes to a tweet. These notes will be visible by touching a binocular icon. This icon will be present on the tweet itself. It will be open for the public to view. However, it’s still unclear that will it be accessible for everyone to annotate tweets or whether be open to select users or fact-checkers.
Chris Messina tweeted in one of his tweets stating this feature as a “citizen watch” for disinformation. Birdwatch note is regarded as a contribution, states Twitter.
Why was the ‘Birdwatch’ feature introduced?
Twitter’s spokesperson said that “misinformation is a critical issue and we will be testing many different ways to address it. It’s clear that Twitter doesn’t have any room for misinformation. Earlier Twitter has even applied fact-check labels to some of Trump’s tweets. Twitter has also hidden any tweets, warning users of unacceptable information.
Twitter also declined to offer any information regarding the new Birdwatch feature but it did confirm that the feature will act as a check on misinformation spread and misleading tweets.
