What It Is
This counts, and relays back to the user, the number of distinct users who have seen a post or comment that user has made.
Different methodologies to count views could be used by different platforms, so long as they are consistent within the platform.
This view meter must be clear and distinct from other social metrics relayed back to users, such as the number of upvotes/likes, shares/retweets, &c.
When To Use It
This metric will be visible on social content, whenever a comment or post displays how many likes, reacts, or shares it has.
What Is Its Intended Impact
- People will compose their own posts/comments with more care because they realize how big their audience really is
- People will respond less to trolls who have gotten comparatively few views
How We Know It Works
How We Know It Might Work
- Facebook (2013) conducted an analysis of survey data to understand the discrepancy between users' perceptions of their audience and their actual audience.
- They found that users consistently thought their audience was much smaller (27% of true size).
Why It Matters
According to researchers from the Facebook study: "Users have scarce information about who actually sees their content, making their audience seem invisible and difficult to estimate." this can lead to over-disclosure and a lack of self-censorship.
Special Considerations
Examples
This intervention entry currently lacks photographic evidence (screencaps, &c.)
Citations
Quantifying the Invisible Audience in Social Networks
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