Analyzing Toxicity in Twitter Posts Across Countries: A Comparative Study

Social media platforms like Twitter can be a breeding ground for toxic content, which can make users feel uncomfortable or even leave discussions altogether. Researchers have developed tools to automatically detect and classify such content, providing a measure of its toxicity level. These tools use algorithms that analyze language patterns, sentiment, and other factors to determine whether a post is likely to be considered offensive or disrespectful by humans.
One popular tool used in this study is called the Perspective API, developed by Google’s Jigsaw team. It assigns toxicity scores between 0 and 1 based on how likely it is that a human labeler would consider a post toxic. The tool can classify content in six languages, including English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, and Polish. However, it cannot classify Turkish language posts, so the researchers developed an alternative method using a different tool called Detoxify.
To compute toxicity scores, the researchers look at how often a specific group of users mentions a particular account in their original tweets. They then normalize this number by the total number of times that account is mentioned by that group of users in all tweets. This metric, called the "quote-ratio," can help identify how much endorsement an account receives from a particular ideological cohort.
The study found that posts with higher toxicity levels tend to receive fewer interactions, such as likes or replies. This suggests that Twitter users may be less likely to interact with content that is considered offensive or disrespectful. However, it’s possible that content moderation policies are also at play here, reducing the visibility of toxic posts.
In summary, detecting and measuring toxicity in social media can help us understand how language and sentiment can impact online interactions. By using automated tools like the Perspective API and Detoxify, researchers can identify patterns of toxic behavior and work towards creating more inclusive and respectful online environments.