It's hard to have a conversation about using technology to
Evo Terra:fight podcasting's misinformation and disinformation problems without being
Evo Terra:called an anti-free speech commie.
Evo Terra:But I'm going to do it!
Evo Terra:Hello, and welcome to another Podcast Pontifications with me, Evo Terra.
Evo Terra:Back in May of 2020, Twitter started an experiment in changing the tone, if you
Evo Terra:will, of the discourse on its service.
Evo Terra:Now, in brief, Twitter was testing to see if the equivalent of a tap on the
Evo Terra:shoulder and a subtle *throat clear* could get people to be, well, you know,
Evo Terra:less of an asshole to one another.
Evo Terra:Now, Twitter knows it's very easy to fire off a tweet in anger when
Evo Terra:you say, or in this case type, things that you may not really mean.
Evo Terra:And they know that it's easy to get worked up over a headline and
Evo Terra:blast and retweet or reply without actually reading the linked article.
Evo Terra:So for the last several months, they've given subtle, gentle, "Are
Evo Terra:you sure you want to say that?"
Evo Terra:and "Would you like to maybe read the article before you send your
Evo Terra:thoughts on it to the world?"
Evo Terra:messages after someone hits send.
Evo Terra:Now, they've announced some results recently, and those results are dramatic.
Evo Terra:31% of the people prompted with messages like those changed their behavior.
Evo Terra:9% of them deleted their tweet altogether.
Evo Terra:But 22% revised what they were going to say in the original tweet.
Evo Terra:Nearly a third of the people, when prompted to reflect on
Evo Terra:what they were about to do, actually changed their behavior.
Evo Terra:Now, granted, we don't have any data on whether or not the
Evo Terra:changes were better or worse.
Evo Terra:I understand that.
Evo Terra:We can hope.
Evo Terra:Well, you probably know as many people as I know who avoid Twitter because their
Evo Terra:timeline has become a toxic cesspool.
Evo Terra:Reducing the toxic cesspool by a third?
Evo Terra:That's a pretty compelling argument for expanding the test,
Evo Terra:which Twitter is going to do.
Evo Terra:Now, what does any of this have to do with podcasting?
Evo Terra:Well, I'll tell you.
Evo Terra:This is a total thought experiment on my part, so set aside your
Evo Terra:assumptions and come along with me.
Evo Terra:And this is going to sound like some crazy Big Brother, nanny state, liberal
Evo Terra:pansy bullshit I'm about to say, but please assume that I'm well aware of
Evo Terra:that and just play this out with me.
Evo Terra:Imagine something like this for podcasting content at the hosting level.
Evo Terra:You upload your media file and the system goes to work using A.I.,
Evo Terra:Machine Learning, and other advanced algorithms to analyze the words
Evo Terra:actually said during the episode.
Evo Terra:And in this fantastical world, potentially problematic sections, let's call them,
Evo Terra:could be surfaced and brought to the uploader's attention with a message like,
Evo Terra:"Are you sure you wanted to say this?"
Evo Terra:with a highlight of the section that's potentially problematic.
Evo Terra:Maybe even with some resources to help the podcaster understand what might
Evo Terra:be problematic about the statement.
Evo Terra:Now, hold onto your anger and your skepticism because another way to
Evo Terra:check this could be at the episode details - you still call them show notes,
Evo Terra:I know - or at the transcript level.
Evo Terra:This might be a little bit easier because Twitter has already
Evo Terra:figured out how to parse texts for potentially problematic text.
Evo Terra:But here again, a gentle, "Hey, you might want to look at this phrasing
Evo Terra:here," could potentially change some of the podcasters' behaviors.
Evo Terra:Now, I know you're in to point out all of the things wrong and
Evo Terra:dangerous with my idea, and I certainly want to address them.
Evo Terra:But first, I need to acknowledge that editing a tweet is a much easier prospect
Evo Terra:than editing a podcast episode that you spent many hours editing and assembling.
Evo Terra:To quote the noted philosopher, Jules Winfield, it ain't even the same sport.
Evo Terra:But what happened earlier in the episode?
Evo Terra:What if it happened earlier in the episode planning when you could make some changes?
Evo Terra:Imagine a Yoast or a Grammarly-style plugin that assisted you as you
Evo Terra:wrote your outline, put your notes together for this particular episode.
Evo Terra:Or maybe with Descript if you're using that to make a paper edit of your episode
Evo Terra:before you actually put it into your DAW.
Evo Terra:That's not all crazy sounding because we already accept and rely
Evo Terra:on tools like that to help make our content better as we publish.
Evo Terra:Again, just mentioned two of them, Yoast and Grammarly.
Evo Terra:Is it really a bridge too far to have them look out for missteps and, sure,
Evo Terra:I'll say it, misinformation that we may be unknowingly passing along?
Evo Terra:All right.
Evo Terra:So now's the time when you can yell at me.
Evo Terra:But before you do so I want to restate, I know how Orwellian this sounds.
Evo Terra:There are a lot of unanswered questions, like the obvious one
Evo Terra:who is the arbiter of truth?
Evo Terra:I also get that this is not going to do anything to curb those who are
Evo Terra:intentional creating and spreading disinformation on a podcast.
Evo Terra:I know.
Evo Terra:I get it.
Evo Terra:This is just an early idea.
Evo Terra:But scrutiny is coming to podcasting.
Evo Terra:And though it may offend our free speech sensibilities, I, by the way, am a
Evo Terra:supporter of free speech, still coming.
Evo Terra:There've been plenty of reports that don't paint podcasting in a flattering
Evo Terra:light when it comes to disinformation, misinformation, and even hate speech.
Evo Terra:And sure, you can assume that doing nothing is what we should do, but
Evo Terra:I think that approach is equally as naive as what I just put forth.
Evo Terra:But sure, light me up in the comments.
Evo Terra:I shall be back tomorrow with yet another Podcast Pontifications.
Evo Terra:Cheers!
Evo Terra:Podcast Pontifications is written and narrated by Evo Terra.
Evo Terra:He's on a mission to make podcasting better.
Evo Terra:Links to everything mentioned in today's episode are in the notes
Evo Terra:section of your podcast listening app.
Evo Terra:A written-to-be-read article based on today's episode is available at
Evo Terra:podcastpontifications.com where you'll also find a video version and a corrected
Evo Terra:transcript, both created by Allie Press.
Evo Terra:Podcast Pontifications is a production of Simpler Media.