In a new poll, 59% of respondents gave a thumbs up to Twitter’s move to add warning messages and labels to disputed and misleading content. This story is about the two most significant social media platforms and their different styles. This story is not about politics. A customer insights analysis firm, Piplsay, wanted to analyze what users think of the approach to label disputed or misleading content. This approach is taken by the two social media giants- Facebook and Twitter. Piplsay published survey results in the report released in the second week of June.
In May 2020, Twitter decided to add labels and warning messages to tweets containing disputed or misleading information. The platform also added some labels to a tweet made by the United States President, Donald Trump. However, Facebook took another approach and did not remove similar posts by Donald Trump.
So, the question arises which social media giant made the right decision? Piplsay spoke to 20,313 Americans to find out which company got it right. The respondents were aged 18 years and above, and the firm spoke to these Americans via Market Cube over the weekend of June 6 and 7 of this year.
The first question asked by the firm was ‘is Twitter right?’ 33% of respondents replied ‘yes’ to this question if the labeling program applies to all users of the platform. Another 26% of respondents said that Twitter is right, particularly if this program applies to ‘influencers.’ So, a total of 59% of people think that Twitter made the right decision to start adding labels to tweets. 16% of respondents were unsure, and 16% said that this program could be misused to benefit specific individuals or parties. Only 9% think that no one should have the right to say what they want.
However, 46% of respondents think that it is up to Facebook to ‘act responsibly.’ While 32% of respondents stated that Facebook should not regulate or verify public posts. 22% of respondents had no opinion or were unsure of Facebook’s response.
According to the survey, 46% of people think that Twitter’s labeling program will encourage other social media companies to regulate or verify content across their respective platforms ‘in a better way.’ However, 14% said that it will encourage other social media platforms to regulate or verify content ‘in a bad way.’ Another 14% of respondents stated that it will not do much to encourage other social media platforms. But we can surely say that majority of the people think that disputed or misleading content should be labeled.
Read next: Twitter Launches Tool To Fight Domestic Violence in Asia Pacific
In May 2020, Twitter decided to add labels and warning messages to tweets containing disputed or misleading information. The platform also added some labels to a tweet made by the United States President, Donald Trump. However, Facebook took another approach and did not remove similar posts by Donald Trump.
So, the question arises which social media giant made the right decision? Piplsay spoke to 20,313 Americans to find out which company got it right. The respondents were aged 18 years and above, and the firm spoke to these Americans via Market Cube over the weekend of June 6 and 7 of this year.
The first question asked by the firm was ‘is Twitter right?’ 33% of respondents replied ‘yes’ to this question if the labeling program applies to all users of the platform. Another 26% of respondents said that Twitter is right, particularly if this program applies to ‘influencers.’ So, a total of 59% of people think that Twitter made the right decision to start adding labels to tweets. 16% of respondents were unsure, and 16% said that this program could be misused to benefit specific individuals or parties. Only 9% think that no one should have the right to say what they want.
However, 46% of respondents think that it is up to Facebook to ‘act responsibly.’ While 32% of respondents stated that Facebook should not regulate or verify public posts. 22% of respondents had no opinion or were unsure of Facebook’s response.
According to the survey, 46% of people think that Twitter’s labeling program will encourage other social media companies to regulate or verify content across their respective platforms ‘in a better way.’ However, 14% said that it will encourage other social media platforms to regulate or verify content ‘in a bad way.’ Another 14% of respondents stated that it will not do much to encourage other social media platforms. But we can surely say that majority of the people think that disputed or misleading content should be labeled.
Read next: Twitter Launches Tool To Fight Domestic Violence in Asia Pacific