Edit Button, Troll-Control: Thanks for Fleets but This is What Indians Really Want From Twitter

After years of playing hot and cold with users when it came to unrolling new updates, Twitter has finally brought in an update that no one, ironically, wanted. With "Fleets", its newest story feature which it introduced in India on Tuesday, Twitter has now joined the leagues of Instagram and Facebook, allowing users to post ephemeral content that is public to all in little globules that appear on top of the screen.

Annoying as it was for many when Facebook and Instagram stole Snapchat's modus operandi, Twitter getting literally the same uninspired update while ignoring several persistent user demands was rather disappointing. Especially amid so much talk about the politicisation of Twitter in the United States.

Upon its launch in India, Italy and Brazil on Tuesday, Twitter asked users for feedback.

Here is a list of demands that users put forth and have been doing for several years.

Edit Button

Many have over the years sought an "Edit" button on tweets and an extension on the character limit. Since Twitter is used by all and sundry for both personal and professional communication, the inability to edit a typo or a misquotes fact has caused many a Twitter user inconvenience and embarrassment. Even former Jammu & Kashmir CM Omar Abdullah tweeted about it.

Safe space for women

Despite several calls to make Twitter a safer space for women, the platform has failed to come up with any new policies or measures to safeguard women from sexist and vicious trolling. When actress Rose McGowan spoke out against Harvey Weinstein at the start of the #MeToo movement, Twitter banned her for posting the graphic content online. Several prominent women on Twitter called for a boycott of the platform unless it was made safer for women, especially women of colour, Asians, women with disabilities and more. But even in 2020, Twitter remains as toxic a platform for women. What is worse is that the misogyny has now been normalised and the approach to women's safety now is focusing on how to live with the abuse. The recent trolling of Jamia Millia Islamia student Safooa Zargar who was arrested under the UAPA while being pregnant is proof.

This is not at all a new demand. In a 2018 amnesty report, researchers found that Twitter continued to remain toxic for women. Women have repeatedly pointed out the targeted toxicity face by them on the microblogging site.

Measures against Fake News and Hate Speech

In the year 2020, social media platforms such as Twitter have emerged as the biggest platforms for mobilizing fake news. At a time when the platforms need to be engaged in combating the spread of viral misinformation, experts fear that experimenting with options like "Fleets" might exacerbate the problem even more. The same is true for hate-speech. Recently, it started tagging some of President Donald Trump's tweets with anti-violence advisories. Will the same hold true for those spreading fake news and hate on Indian Twitter? No such action has yet been taken.

While many are still posting their feedback, here's some more feedback that Twitter has received over the years but has turned a deaf ear to.

Less toxic

Overall, users across communities have called for a cleaner environment and a respite from toxic trolling. This is true in India where every political party or famous/powerful personality has its own Twitter troll army, ready to jump on any new voice that speaks against political hegemony, governmental failures, misogyny, homophobia, racism, casteism, communalism and more. Many have called for measures to weed out active trolls and bot accounts in order to make the platform less toxic. But Twitter has so far taken no real action in this regard.

More transparency

This point often colludes with the others on this list. Twitter users have time and again demanded transparency from the platform. Be it the process of blue-tick verifications, random blocks and suspensions or Twitter's inability to block deeply problematic content which it claimed it did not violate the platform's policies despite being sexist, racist, homophobic or glorifying violence, leaves much to the imagination. While many have sought a more systematic list of 'Do's and Don'ts' and detailed descriptions of the clauses that can get one verified or blocked from the platform, Twitter has continued to evade full transparency bout its policies..

While it is interesting that Twitter wants to make the platform more standardised with other apps in terms of look and feel as well as function, it is just a little more than disappointing when the platform continues to ignore the real needs of users despite repeated requests.