Twitter, the home of short messages and snarky rebuttals, is now opening its doors to the vast and growing market of digital-Karens. You know who they are. They’re the proud portion of the American population that takes time out of their busy day to write overly-detailed, overly-critical, and expertly-crafted descriptions of how dissatisfied they were with their visit to the local restaurant, bowling alley, or any other establishment that didn’t live up to their arbitrary standards.

During the election, Twitter made headlines by introducing fact-checking services and warnings during the 2020 Presidential election. Then, they moved to block Trump permanently from the site. Yes, it was strange, but we got used to it.

Now, Twitter is taking things a step further and introducing something called “birdwatch.” This new feature, which is currently in beta-testing, will allow users to add “notes” to tweets that seem to be false or not having context. It’s basically a user-based fact-checking system.

People on birdwatch can even rate your opinion, and rate the “fact-checks” from other birdwatchers. The highest-rated fact-check of a disputed Tweet is pushed to the top as the best fact-check.

Basically, it allows users to become the digital equivalent of the humorless know-it-all who sits in the front of the class, and starts every sentence by saying, “Well actually….”

Nerd Ackchyually GIF from Nerd GIFs

In a statement, Twitter VP Keith Coleman said, “We believe this approach has the potential to respond quickly when misleading information spreads, adding context that people trust and find valuable.” Coleman went on to say, “Eventually we aim to make notes visible directly on Tweets for the global Twitter audience when there is consensus from a broad and diverse set of contributors.”

It appears that Twitter wants to create a place where even more people can be censored and silenced. With birdwatch, anyone who posts a controversial opinion will have to navigate even more anxiety associated with being arbitrarily fact-checked by people with way too much time and bitterness.

And, who knows what those fact-checks amount to. If you get “fact-checked” by Twitter users, will Twitter then use that as a measurement to suspend your account? Can you be kicked off entirely? We have yet to see. But, one thing is for sure, Twitter is long past the days of “sharing ideas.” They have upped the game, and are now paving the way for more people to learn the ways of the self-righteous, intolerable and unlikeable know-it-alls on the internet.

No matter what comes of this, it’s going to make Twitter less fun, less interactive and more Karen-y. Sign me up!