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Exploration of user interface mechanisms with affect labeling to enhance online discussion

Published: 07 September 2021 Publication History

Abstract

Heated and uncivil discussions are regrettably common in social media, potentially leading to harmful atmospheres. In the present work, we explore how relatively simple user interface mechanisms might nudge users to choose a more civil tone by promoting an emotion regulation process called affect labeling — i.e., naming one's emotions. In particular, we focus on labeling emotions in response to online news articles, as this is a ubiquitous form of online multimedia. Based on systematic design exploration, we present four concrete mechanisms as alternatives for affect labeling news articles: an emotion wheel, an intensity slider, emotion analysis done through machine learning, and free text labeling. In a qualitative evaluation study, 18 interviewees discussed the designs in focus groups in order to identify design aspects that might lead to high acceptability and usability. The study findings help reflect how emotion regulation could be facilitated by UI mechanisms, which design aspects both encourage affect labeling and are acceptable by users, and how affect labeling can meaningfully influence online interactions.

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Cited By

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  • (2024)Emotion labelling strengthens readers’ emotional responses to online messagesBehaviour & Information Technology10.1080/0144929X.2024.2379552(1-12)Online publication date: 29-Jul-2024
  • (2022)User-centred quality of UI interventions aiming to influence online news commenting behaviourBehaviour & Information Technology10.1080/0144929X.2022.210872342:12(2060-2092)Online publication date: 10-Aug-2022

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cover image ACM Other conferences
Academic Mindtrek '21: Proceedings of the 24th International Academic Mindtrek Conference
June 2021
229 pages
ISBN:9781450385145
DOI:10.1145/3464327
Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected]

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Association for Computing Machinery

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Publication History

Published: 07 September 2021

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Author Tags

  1. Affect labeling
  2. Emotion regulation mechanisms
  3. Interaction design
  4. News platforms
  5. Online emotion regulation
  6. Online hostility
  7. Online multimedia
  8. User interface

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  • Research-article
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  • Refereed limited

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Mindtrek '21
Mindtrek '21: Academic Mindtrek 2021
June 1 - 3, 2021
Tampere/Virtual, Finland

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Overall Acceptance Rate 110 of 207 submissions, 53%

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Cited By

View all
  • (2024)Emotion labelling strengthens readers’ emotional responses to online messagesBehaviour & Information Technology10.1080/0144929X.2024.2379552(1-12)Online publication date: 29-Jul-2024
  • (2022)User-centred quality of UI interventions aiming to influence online news commenting behaviourBehaviour & Information Technology10.1080/0144929X.2022.210872342:12(2060-2092)Online publication date: 10-Aug-2022

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