CrossWeave shows diverse views next to social media posts
CrossWeave: Bridging Perspectives Across Online Communities with a Dual-Pane Design
Social and Information NetworksHuman-Computer InteractionInformation Retrieval
Summary
Social media often shows posts from familiar people, which can limit the views users see. The authors created CrossWeave to display different opinions alongside a post, helping people see wider perspectives. It also uses AI to help people write thoughtful responses by predicting how others might react. This tool aims to reduce echo chambers and encourage more balanced online conversations.
What this means in practice
- •For social media platform developers: Add a dual-pane interface that shows connected posts from other communities to promote diverse discussion.
- •For online community managers: Deploy AI features that simulate reactions to user drafts to encourage more constructive public replies.
Authors
Fei Fang, Reva Hirave, William Jurayj, Yuqi Li, Brian Lu, Tarik Metin, Tsugunobu Miyake, Kateryna Morhun, Yash Permalla, Kenan Rustamov, Allen Shen, Haojun Shi, Prabhav Singh, Xiheng Tom Wang, Kevin Xu, Qingcheng Zeng, Jiayi Zhang, Daniel Khashabi, Andrew Perrin, Tiziano Piccardi, Ziang Xiao, Jason Eisner
Abstract
Social media systems typically display conversations among already familiar contributors, which can be predictable and one-sided. In civic discourse, this design narrows discussion, reinforces divides, and distorts the perception of public opinion. To encourage cross-community engagement, we present CrossWeave, an AI-powered bridging system that augments the standard social media feed. As the user reads a post, CrossWeave surfaces diverse relevant posts from other threads in a side pane and highlights the connections. Users are invited to venture out of their echo chamber, explore a broader range of views and arguments, and ``click across'' to engage with their authors. When they do, CrossWeave facilitates constructive posting, not only by showcasing relevant past content but also by simulating possible reactions as the user drafts a post.