Mitigating Toxicity in Social Media: Redesign Guidelines for Cultivating Positive User Interactions in the Instagram Threads App

This paper explores the systemic challenges contributing to toxicity in social media platforms, focusing on the case study of Threads, a direct competitor of X (formerly known as Twitter). With its launch in July 2023, Threads gained popularity among X users who cited concerns surrounding increased toxicity on the platform. In this paper, we propose interventions after thoroughly reviewing catalysts such as the spread of misinformation, cyberbullying, and problems in online governance. The nascent platform, Threads, is not yet afflicted by these pitfalls but could be in the future. Our interventions include a collaborative fact-checking mechanism, AI bots for responding to violations against community guidelines, a mood selector board to curate content, and the option of anonymous replies. Through usability testing, we aimed to prove the effectiveness of these measures in reducing toxicity in online communities.