{"id":10994,"date":"2015-02-05T22:21:45","date_gmt":"2015-02-05T22:21:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=10994"},"modified":"2015-02-05T23:03:47","modified_gmt":"2015-02-05T23:03:47","slug":"is-twitter-being-taken-out-by-the-twits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=10994","title":{"rendered":"Is Twitter being taken over by the TWITS?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Twitter boss admits firm is failing victims of trolling<\/h1>\n
\"WomanTrolling, or cyberbullying, on social networks appears to be a growing problem<\/div>\n

Twitter’s chief executive Dick Costolo has admitted that the company “sucks” when it comes to dealing with abuse and trolling on the service.<\/p>\n

In a memo to staff,\u00a0leaked to tech news website the Verge<\/a>, he said that bullying behaviour on the network was driving users away.<\/p>\n

He promised tougher action to deal with abusers.<\/p>\n

A series of high-profile users have quit Twitter in recent months, citing online abuse.<\/p>\n

In his memo to staff, Mr Costolo wrote: “We suck at dealing with abuse and trolls on the platform and we’ve sucked at it for years.<\/p>\n

“It’s no secret that the rest of the world talks about it every day. We lose core user after core user by not addressing simple trolling issues that they face every day.”<\/p>\n

His words echo\u00a0a December blog post<\/a>\u00a0in which the company admitted that it “was nowhere near being done making changes in this area”.<\/p>\n

It promises that, in coming months, it will bring in further user controls and improvements in the way users can report abusive accounts.<\/p>\n

Abuse victims<\/p>\n

\"IsabellaIsabella Sorley was charged with Twitter abuse, following an online attack of campaigner Caroline Criado-Perez<\/div>\n

The debate over so-called internet trolls – people who use social media accounts to abuse others – has been attracting headlines for several years now.<\/p>\n

The daughter of actor Robin Williams signed off Twitter following taunts about her father’s suicide.<\/p>\n

Screenwriter Jane Goldman deleted her account following abuse of her family.<\/p>\n

And Sara Payne, whose daughter Sarah was abducted and murdered in 2000, said she was leaving the social media network after years of online harassment.<\/p>\n

\"line\"<\/div>\n

What can be done to stop trolling?<\/p>\n