News > Social Media Birdwatch Adds Aliases to Protect Twitter Usernames Twitter says it hopes to reduce bias, too By Joshua Hawkins Joshua Hawkins Twitter Freelance Technology Reporter Full Sail University Josh Hawkins is a freelance writer for Lifewire who loves writing about the latest tech and gadgets that help make people’s lives easier. As an avid gamer and VR enthusiast, he also enjoys diving deep into the technology that helps bring those kinds of experiences to life. lifewire's editorial guidelines Published on November 23, 2021 01:06PM EST Fact checked by Jerri Ledford Fact checked by Jerri Ledford Western Kentucky University Gulf Coast Community College Jerri L. Ledford has been writing, editing, and fact-checking tech stories since 1994. Her work has appeared in Computerworld, PC Magazine, Information Today, and many others. lifewire's fact checking process Tweet Share Email Tweet Share Email Social Media Mobile Phones Internet & Security Computers & Tablets Smart Life Tech Leaders Home Theater & Entertainment Software & Apps Social Media Streaming Gaming Women in Gaming Twitter is adding Aliases to its Birdwatch safety program in a bid to shift focus to the notes instead of who wrote them. The social media giant announced the plan on Tuesday. Birdwatch will now auto-generate a display name for participants when they join the security system. The aliases aren’t publicly associated with the contributor’s Twitter account. That means they can write and rate notes without worrying about anyone connecting it back to them. Pixabay / Mockup Photos Twitter says that the new setup should help reduce bias by letting you focus on the content of the notes rather than the person writing them. This should help remove any bias surrounding specific authors. It also hopes to reduce polarization by helping people feel comfortable crossing partisan lines or criticizing their own side without worrying about retribution for what they say. Aliases won’t come at the cost of accountability, though, Twitter says. Birdwatch accounts still have profile pages that make it easy to see how you’ve contributed in the past. Additionally, anyone who participates in the system will be held accountable by the ratings on their notes. Twitter claims this should give weight to the contributors whose notes and raters are often found helpful by other Birdwatch members. Twitter Any contributions made before the launch of aliases will be moved over to your alias and can easily be found on your profile page. Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day Subscribe Tell us why! Other Not enough details Hard to understand Submit