Dunk tweets originated on Twitter as a form of abuse that involves someone using the quote-tweet feature to add their own commentary that mocks, disparages or refutes the original post in such a way that others respond with further insults, derision or abusive remarks. The dunk became a popular way for Twitter users to increase engagement with their posts as they would often receive a boost in likes and replies, especially if their dunk commentary was witty. However, for the person being dunked on, being highlighted in this way was not welcomed, as a flood of non-followers would spam their replies with hateful or abusive remarks.
Bluesky’s detach quote feature rolling out in the latest release (version 1.90) will allow users to view all the quote posts associated with a given post and remove their original post from someone’s quote post. This, the company explains in an announcement, will help users “maintain control over a thread you started, ideally limiting dog-piling and other forms of harassment.” (Of course, screenshotting to dunk on posts will still be possible, so this doesn’t necessarily prevent dunks entirely!)
There is no perfect system yet to prevent dunking and trolling on social media, but it is good to see Bluesky making an effort to try to make social media a less abusive place to be. Of course, many won’t like the changes, and I’m sure it will be tweaked further. The thing to remember with social media is that 95% of the noise and abuse is caused by less than 5% of the users. The problem is, often the silent majority stays silent. So, yes, various tools are needed to help keep things on an even keel.