[eatsyourtacos]

I would argue it did in a way- mostly because of the character limit and lack of a comment tree.

You can't have an actual discussion with such a small character limit. However it's easy to spout off nonsense bullshit in a small character limit. And then no one can really argue with you because it takes more words to actually back things up. Thus it's really easy to spread bullshit and the people who are more susceptible just eat it up as they can only stay focused for a few sentences anyway.

TikTok was kind of the same way and it drove me crazy up until the last year, because the comment limit was so short (and the fact that you can't really see a thread properly, just like twitter.) The user base of tiktok seems to have vastly changed over the last year (or maybe they keep improving their algo so much I just don't encounter it) but I've gotten used to the limit because people aren't arguing as much they are just genuinely commenting on a video.

I was always a fan of Reddit (until recently) because it was just a message board- you could actually read real thoughts and have a formatted threaded discussion (like on HN).

[KingMob]

As someone who argues routinely with long-winded racists on Reddit, it's no haven. Nor are the crackpots spewing 1/6 rants and COVID conspiracies on Facebook.

I think social media itself is the problem, not the post length.

[somethingreen]

Platform features and limitations do matter. Tumblr is considered the original rage mob platform, because the only way to write an extended response to a post was via reblog, so if you ranted about something you hate, you'd put that something in front of your followers to hate too. Good engagement though, so now that feature is everywhere.

[lostlogin]

100%.

Letting everyone talk is free speech. On the street you walk away from the lunatic, but with social media they find their kind and yell together.