Evan ProdromouAug 6, 2023

Hi, fediverse Web and mobile client developer.

What if you added a speed bump in the reply flow to slow down users for just a moment?

"Do you really want to reply to X? Will they appreciate your reply?"

Maybe just the first time they reply to someone; maybe easily turned off in settings.

If it makes people think for just a moment, it might help with making the fediverse a more welcoming place for women.

UPDATE: deleted and redrafted per multiple requests.

Show threadEvan ProdromouAug 7, 2023

This may help with some angry or harassing replies.

However, I'm more interested in the high volume of microaggressions that women and nonbinary people report on social networks, such as:

* Centering yourself
* Hijacking a thread to change the topic
* Being overly familiar with someone you have a parasocial relationship with
* Multiple replies "thinking out loud"
* Talking down to someone who knows as much or more than you do about the topic

Would a speed bump help here? Maybe.

Show threadEvan ProdromouAug 7, 2023
I think an opt-in mode, off by default, to help people remember to better regulate their own behaviour, would have benefits without inhibiting marginalised people who have issues speaking up and sharing their voice.
Show threadEvan Prodromou
Also: *an* answer is not *the* answer. There are other tools that need to be here, including reply hiding (take this reply out of the collection of replies to my post) and reply control (only friends can reply, only followers can reply).
Aug 7, 2023 at 2:40pmWeb
Show threadCharles RoperAug 8, 2023
@evan Mmm, I like that. Thread curation tools. Reply pinning could be good (pin the good ones to the top) and reply sorting (by likes). Kinda like StackExchange.