Promoting Online Civility Through Platform Architecture

Journal of Online Trust and Safety · 2022 · 15 citations

• Sociology
• Computer Science
• Political Science

This study tests whether the architecture of a social media platform can encourage conversations among users to be more civil. It was conducted in collaboration with Nextdoor, a networking platform for neighbors within a defined geographic area. The study involved: (1) prompting users to move popular posts from the neighborhood-wide feed to new groups dedicated to the topic and (2) an experiment that randomized the announcement of community guidelines to members who join those newly formed groups. We examined the impact of each intervention on the level of civility, moral values reflected in user comments, and user’s submitted reports of inappropriate content. In a large quantitative analysis of comments posted to Nextdoor, the results indicate that platform architecture can shape the civility of conversations. Comments within groups were more civil and less frequently reported to Nextdoor moderators than the comments on the neighborhood-wide posts. In addition, comments in groups where new members were shown guidelines were less likely to be reported to moderators and were expressed in a more morally virtuous tone than comments in groups where new members were not presented with guidelines. This research demonstrates the importance of considering the design, structure, and affordance of the online environment when online platforms seek to promote civility and other pro-social behaviors.

Procedural justice training reduces police use of force and complaints against officers

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 2020 · 213 citations

• Political Science
• Public relations
• Criminology

Existing research shows that distrust of the police is widespread and consequential for public safety. However, there is a shortage of interventions that demonstrably reduce negative police interactions with the communities they serve. A training program in Chicago attempted to encourage 8,480 officers to adopt procedural justice policing strategies. These strategies emphasize respect, neutrality, and transparency in the exercise of authority, while providing opportunities for civilians to explain their side of events. We find that training reduced complaints against the police by 10.0% and reduced the use of force against civilians by 6.4% over 2 y. These findings affirm the feasibility of changing the command and control style of policing which has been associated with popular distrust and the use of force, through a broad training program built around the concept of procedurally just policing.