Content controls help users to tailor their feed to their preferences and reduce exposure to unwanted, potentially sensitive, or distressing content. However, existing research shows that few people use content control tools on social media.
In this research we tested how small design changes can impact on how much use people make of the content control tools available to them. We found:
- Making the 'Hide Post' tool easier to access and use increased the number of posts that were hidden but it did not increase the number of participants using the tool. This indicates that just improving access to content controls tools is not enough to increase the number of people using those tools. Other solutions may be needed as well.
- Making the 'Hide Post' tool easier to access reduced the use of the blocking and reporting tools. This could mean that potentially harmful content was not being blocked or reported when it otherwise may have been.
- However, using follow-up prompts and providing feedback to the user about the impact of using the ‘Hide Post' tool more than helped offset the initial reduction in the use of these tools.
- How service providers communicate the outcome of using content control tools to users is likely to be important. For instance, making it clearer how their feed is updated when they hide a post.
This trial contributes to growing evidence that small changes in user interface design can significantly influence user behaviour. It highlights the importance for service providers to rigorously research and test content control tools, ensuring users can manage what they see while offering important feedback to service providers. Such signals could help platforms prioritise and allocate resources more efficiently when moderating and removing content across the platform.
For more details about the key findings, see the Insights Paper: User empowerment and content control tools: testing how design affects people’s choices.
For more details about the trial design and set-up and data analysis, see the Technical Report: User Empowerment – Technical report