Social networking service Nextdoor announced that it would label election-related posts and in-app alerts to remind users not to get into a heated debate over politics.
This is Nextdoor's way of preparing the platform before the US midterm elections on Nov. 8.
Nextdoor's Midterm Rules
According to Engadget, Nextdoor said in a blog post that it would use pop-up reminders to discourage heated political discourse on election-related posts.
The platform will use pop-up reminders when hurtful or harmful language is detected or anticipated through predictive technology.
Besides the reminders, Nextdoor is partnering with vote.org and other organizations on in-app messages to encourage turnout and provide resources and instructions on registering to vote.
This is not the first time the platform has used these reminders to discourage heated debate between neighbors.
In May, Nextdoor introduced a feature that can help keep conversations respectful. Users will see a pop-up reminding them to prevent negative discussions and be more empathetic.
In 2019, Nextdoor introduced kindness reminders, which pop up when the app detects someone is about to post a heated comment. The platform also launched pop-ups to promote anti-racist language among its users.
Features of Other Platforms
Nextdoor is not the only platform looking for ways to prevent discourse about politics. In August, social media platform Twitter announced its election policy.
According to CNN, Twitter will now label and demote misinformation about US elections, like false claims about the outcomes of a political race.
This is part of the platform's broader set of content enforcement policies it is activating ahead of the US midterm elections on Nov. 8.
The new set of policies, Twitter's Civic Integrity Policy, aims to clamp down on harmful and misleading information about elections.
Twitter applies the policies during elections worldwide and has enforced them in 12 other countries elections in 2022.
According to Reuters, the policies were in effect during the 2020 US elections, and Twitter faced criticisms in early 2022 after the platform acknowledged having suspended enforcement of the policies in March 2021.
Twitter also said that it would roll out prompts in multiple languages at the top of users' feeds that inform people about false narratives, like claims that voting by mail is insecure, and direct people to accurate information regarding voting and the election.
Twitter also said it is working on a new portal for national-level updates from election officials and news outlets about the midterms. It has already launched several dedicated state-focused hubs with information from trusted sources.
Other recent changes include updates to the platform's recommendation engine to limit the spread of misinformation.
As for Facebook, the social media giant is also working on ensuring the security and safety of the US midterm elections despite the criticism for dialing back its investment from the 2020 elections.
According to The Guardian, Facebook's investment in the security and safety of the US midterm elections on Nov. 8 exceeds the measures it implemented during the last midterm election in 2018.
Related Article: Facebook's Neighborhoods Vs. Nextdoor: This Clone Feature Enables Local Connections But Is It Safe to Use?
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Written by Sophie Webster
