Twitter CEO Admits Lacunae In Dealing With Trolls

(RTTNews) - Twitter CEO Dick Costolo said the micro-blogging site "sucks" when it comes to dealing with trolls, or abusive messages that wean away users from the network.

In a memo to Twitter staff leaked to tech news website the Verge, Costolo said that bullying behavior on the network was driving users away, and that tough action is on the cards to tackle the menace.

Twitter's reputation has been somewhat dented after a few high-profile users left its network, citing trolls by mischievous users.

In the memo, Costolo wrote: "We suck at dealing with abuse and trolls on the platform and we've sucked at it for years. It's no secret and the rest of the world talks about it every day. We lose core user after core user by not addressing simple trolling issues that they face every day."

Costolo was courageous enough to take the blame, citing lack of timely action during his tenure to deal with trolls. " There's no excuse for it. I take full responsibility for not being more aggressive on this front. It's nobody else's fault but mine, and it's embarrassing."

Twitter has planned to bring in further user controls and improvements in the way users can report abusive accounts.

Costolo's stinging comments follows a December blog post in which Twitter admitted the distance it needs to tread to handle the problem.

Following the suicide of noted actor Robin Williams, his daughter had to experience the scourge of unsavory trolls about his death, forcing her to sign off the network.

Screenwriter Jane Goldman deleted her account following abuse of her family.

Twitter has 284 million registered users and is striving to expand its user base, which while impressive, still trails Facebook's 1.3 billion users. Addressing the problem of trolls is a small but sure step for the network to retain and also expand its base.