Twitter received some backlash last week when it changed a privacy feature that allowed users to completely block certain users who commit abusive behavior online. The site has since reversed the change. But how many social media users have experienced dealing with such users? And how many have used blocking features on various sites?
Abusive Behavior
In Ask Your Target Market’s latest survey, 12% of social media users said that they are very worried about mean or abusive behavior from others on social sites or apps. 27% said they are somewhat worried about abusive behavior on social media. 37% said they are not really worried about this type of behavior. And 24% said they don’t worry about it at all.
Twitter Blocking
So how popular is the actual blocking function when it comes to abusive or other undesirable behavior? 32% of respondents said that they have blocked other users multiple times on social media sites. 24% said they’ve just blocked one user on social media. And 44% have never used a blocking function on social media.More specifically, just 15% of those who have blocked users on social media said they have blocked multiple users on Twitter. 13% said they’ve only had to block one Twitter user. And 73% said they’ve never blocked anyone on Twitter.
Changing Policies
But even though many users have never actually used the blocking feature, the fact that it’s there could help with a feeling of security and control. Just 16% of social media users said that if a site did not offer a way to block abusive users, they would still continue to use the site with no second thought. 31% said they would stop using a site if it did not offer a way to block abusive users. And 53% said they would continue using the site, but would do so cautiously.You can view the complete survey results in the widget below and be sure to click “Open Full Report” to take advantage of all the chart and filter options.Photo Credit: ASTM Unfriendly Friday from FlickrWhat do you want to know? If you need some consumer insights on a particular topic, let us know in the comments below and we’ll consider it for an upcoming survey post.
Results were collected on December 15 via AYTM’s online survey panel.