Don’t Get Excited About Twitter Audio Feature Yet!
Twitter has been testing out a number of new features lately, however the announcement of a new audio feature seem to top them all. What’s not to love you’d ask. Lazy typists like myself can finally run mini podcasts commenting on issues dear to them. I mean, you do not have to worry about autocorrect for wrong spellings. Words do not necessarily have to be taken out of context . This is because intonation in voice can help give a broader perspective on what a tweet is about.
We are still keeping hope alive for that much requested edit button though but I digress.
Twitter’s microblogging platform has contributed in allowing many of us lend our voices to social/human changes dear to our hearts. The site has provided succor to maligned members of the society. Feminists, political minorities, sexual minorities and all forms of non-popular beliefs have found a home and community on the platform. Conversations that have effected changes both home and abroad began with twitter hashtags. One of such conversations is the #blacklivesmatter movement, #metoo, #saynotorape #endsars among many others.
Twitter Acting As the Soul of the Society
One of the major disadvantages of a free for all site is that it plays host to various opinions – some of which are downright abusive and harmful. People have been mobbed and bullied to the point of depression. White supremacists, jihadists, child molesters and the likes have hidden behind twitter profiles to propagate the beliefs. The onus to rid the platform off such characters have been the subject of many years of discussion.
Twitter enjoins users to report cases of abuse. Confirmed misuse of twitter may lead to deletion of accounts or in milder cases, suspension.
There are several debates on how best to moderate content on the platform without being too intrusive or guilty of playing the role of an editor.
Recently, the social media giant found itself caught in the pool of American politics when it fact checked two tweets by the President. Not long after the company also flagged the US President’s tweets for instigating violence . The most recent is the tag of manipulated media placed on Trump’s tweet showing a white and black kid.
Some Bad News
Given the company’s precedence in being slow to act in cases of cyberbullying, some users fear that abusers and bigots may be able to use the new audio feature to further their causes.
Another major lapse is that the audio feature is only available on IOS. There is no telling when it will be available on Android for now. As always, it was a win for the #teamIOS who never miss a chance of dragging Android users. On a more serious note though, there are more android users than IOS . This is why it feels like Twitter sidelined majority of its users.
Hearing impaired people were not fashioned into the product design. This is another big accessibility issue. The audio feature, which by how it was received, may change how people interact on Twitter, has no caption. Liam O’Dell, a UK-based deaf journalist shared his thoughts on this major lapse. The call-out revealed a lapse in Twitter’s accessibility team whom many described as unmotivated.
Maya, @mayagpatterson, a product designer on Twitter shared a series of tweets where she apologized profusely to the deaf community for the ‘oversight’. She promised to work with leadership in making sure that the issues raised were sorted.
A Twitter source explained to the Verge that the company is working on improving its accessibility review and exploring the possibility of building that “more dedicated group” to focus on the problem.
It is important to note that many other media platforms with audio options have captioning in place. This makes it almost hard to forgive Twitter’s mistake.
