...the environment naturally skews toward conflict and tribalism.One particular effect of this environment is that small misunderstandings, mistakes, or disagreements can unexpectedly explode due to the public nature of discourse and assumptions of bad faith. ...
Twitter Mea Culpa is a way for a poster to flag their tweet as a mistake and de-escalate a situation, using the same action menu that deleting a post uses, and the same visual design as flagged tweets...
...once a user admits a mistake, the Mea Culpa tweet is no longer amplified. ... Users cannot reply, like, or retweet without comment...
...receiving forgiveness is positive reinforcement that creates a safer place which makes us more likely to admit a mistake in the future. So how about we add a forgive button...
In the coming decade, social media needs to figure out how to get back in balance, by exploring designs that help build understanding, find resolution to conflict, and offer paths for restorative justice.