If you read stuff on the internet (and obviously you do because hi, you’re reading a blog) then you know the golden rule: never read the comments. Scrolling..
If you read stuff on the internet (and obviously you do because hi, you’re reading a blog) then you know the golden rule: never read the comments.
Scrolling past the end of a story is an adventure into a realm of racism, conspiracy theories and ad hominem attacks that will quickly make you lose your faith in humanity. But instead of encountering Godwin’s Law in the comments, you might start encountering Google instead. Google’s internet safety incubator Jigsaw launched new technology today called Perspective, intended to clean up comment sections.
Perspective reviews comments and assigns them a toxicity rating that reflects the likelihood that the comment is intended to be harmful. Jigsaw’s goal is to keep people engaged in the conversation, so it assesses “harm” as something that would drive other commenters away.
“Imagine trying to have a conversation with your friends about the news you read this morning, but every time you said something, someone shouted in your face, called you a nasty name or accused you of some awful crime. You’d probably leave the conversation,” Jigsaw president Jared Cohen said.
