Queueing for Civility: User Perspectives on Regulating Emotions in Online Conversations

TL;DR

This paper proposes a real-time comment queuing system for online platforms that delays posting to reduce impulsive and toxic comments, showing promising results in decreasing hate speech and improving user emotional regulation.

Contribution

It introduces a novel comment queuing mechanism for emotion regulation in online conversations, supported by empirical analysis and user feedback.

Findings

Reduced hate speech and anger spread by up to 15%.

93.3% of users believe it can calm discussions.

83% of users think it reduces impulsive comments.

Abstract

Online conversations are often interrupted by trolling, which causes emotional distress and conflict among users. Previous research has focused on moderating harmful content after it has been posted, but ways to manage emotions in real-time remain unexplored. This study suggests a comment queuing mechanism that delays comment publishing, encourages self-reflection, and reduces the impact of impulsive and toxic comments. To assess the efficacy of this approach, a mixed-method research design is used. An analysis of 15,000 user interactions on Reddit showed that this approach could reduce the spread of hate speech and anger by up to 15%, with only 4% of comments being delayed for about 47 seconds on average. We also surveyed users for feedback on the mechanism. The results showed that 93. 3\% of the participants thought that the queuing mechanism could help calm the discussions and showed interest in seeing it used on social media platforms. Furthermore, 83% believed it would reduce impulsive comments and balance the emotional tone in conversations. We found a strong link between users' typical emotional states while using social media and their perceptions of the delay, with calm users finding the mechanism helpful and frustrated users anticipating frustration.