创建Twitter“转发”功能的开发者，现在后悔了

The man who invented Twitter’s “retweet” button now believes it was a very bad idea.

发明Twitter“转发”功能的人现在认为这是一个非常糟糕的主意。

In an interview with BuzzFeed News, developer Chris Wetherell said he recalls thinking, “We might have just handed a 4-year-old a loaded weapon.”

在BuzzFeed新闻的一次采访中，开发者ChrisWetherell说他回忆起当时的想法，“我们可能刚刚给了一个4岁的孩子，一个装有子弹的武器。”

The retweet feature is a core part of Twiter, responsible for sparking needed conversations on a wide range of topics, but also responsible for spreading misinformation and being harnessed by bad actors like Russia.

转发功能是Twiter的核心部分，负责在广泛的主题上引发必要的对话，但也负责传播错误信息，并被机器人利用。

Prior to the retweet, users had to copy and paste text into a new tweet, giving them a bit more time to deliberate about tone, intent and content. Afterward, things changed.

现在，在转发之前，用户必须复制文本并将其粘贴到新的tweet中，这样他们就有更多的时间来考虑语气、意图和内容。之后，事情会变得不一样。

Wetherell told BuzzFeed News that Twitter staffers were not prepared for how the feature would dramatically change engagement on the platform.

Wetherell告诉BuzzFeedBuzzFeed新闻，Twitter的工作人员，还没有准备好该功能将如何显著改变用户对该平台的参与度。

“Only two or three times did someone ask a broader and more interesting social question, which was, ‘What is getting shared?’” Wetherell said. “That almost never came up.”

“只有两三次有人问了一个更广泛、更有趣的社会问题，那就是，‘分享的是什么?’”Wetherell说。“这个问题几乎从未被提过。”

Misinformation, whether being spread by Russian bots or regular Americans, spreads much faster thanks to features like the retweet button.

错误信息，无论是由机器人还是普通的网民传播，由于有了像“转发”按钮这样的功能，而传播得更快。

For its part, the tech company says it is considering a wide range of remedies in order to make the space “healthier.”

这家科技公司表示，他们正在考虑广泛的补救措施，以使这个空间“更健康”。

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey told BuzzFeed News that Twitter is “definitely thinking about the incentives and ramifications of all actions, including retweet.”

Twitter首席执行官杰克•多西(Jack Dorsey)对Buzzfeed News表示，Twitter“肯定在考虑所有动作隐含的动机和后果，包括转发功能。”

Dorsey also suggested that Twitter could instead emphasize the quote tweet function.

多西还建议Twitter应该强调引用转发功能。