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Words matter.
Words have always mattered, but they matter more than ever now that the Internet gives us the power to publicize and preserve words. Anything you write can be shared with the world, instantly, and may endure eternally.
Words can uplift or demean, you or someone else. Your words may have impact far beyond what you intended, both in scope and meaning.
Yet how many of us truly consider every word we write?
Two new extensions for the Chrome browser can help you mind your words. These extensions will highlight words to help you make better choices.
One extension, reword, highlights words that have the power to hurt others. The other, Just Not Sorry, alerts you when your words take away your power.
Both extensions are free and work with the Chrome browser.
reword
reword is a Chrome extension that is designed to reduce the use of hurtful words. When a word, phrase or sentence is typed that is insulting, abusive, or hurtful, a red line will cross out the word.
This extension is similar to a spell checker and works on Chrome for any website. reword does not censor words, but raises awareness of language that may hurt the feelings of others.
An Australian team developed reword to combat cyberbullying. The developers realized that people, especially children, may not be aware that their harsh words may have a deep effect on others.
The developers’ testing showed that 79% of children changed their words when prompted to by reword.
“reword has the unique ability to change online behaviour by stopping insults in the moment before they are posted,” said Chris Tanti, one of the developers of reword.
“Bullying has always existed, but technology has made it insidious – and near inescapable. Online bullies can target victims 24/7, they can do it anonymously and without anyone else nearby to call out the behaviour. While online bullying is usually addressed through education or by reporting after the event, reword catches the behaviour in real time, before it is out there.”
reword can be used on school, business and home computers.
This video shows the thinking behind reword:
At the reword website you can add words you think should be included in the extension.
reword is available free from the Google Chrome store.
Just Not Sorry
Just Not Sorry is a Chrome extension that is in many ways the opposite of reword. While reword is intended to soften language, Just Not Sorry is designed to empower language.
Recognizing that some people weaken their messages by using apologetic words, developers at the company Cyrus Innovation created Just Not Sorry to highlight words that undermine the intent of the writer.
Just Not Sorry works only in Gmail, as a Chrome extension. After adding the extension to Chrome, the word Sorry with a circle and red line through it appears in the Web address bar when Gmail is open.
Compose a message in Gmail. Words and phrases that take power away from your message will be highlighted.
Similar to spell check, the trigger words will have an orange dotted line appear below them. Words such as “sorry”, “just”, “I think”, and “I’m no expert” will be underlined. You can also see an explanation of why the words were underlined.
You can then choose whether to leave these phrases in your email message or change them. If you send the email out with an underlined word included (for example, when you are truly sorry about something), the underline will not appear in the email.
Unlike reword, Just Not Sorry doesn’t have a way for you to suggest words to add to the extension. But the developers have made the source code available for others who want to develop similar extensions.
Just Not Sorry is available free in the Google Chrome store.
Your Thoughts
Do you like the idea of extensions to help alert you to the words you use? Do you think these highlights would be helpful to change the language people use? If you were to use an extension, which types of words would you like highlighted?
Share your thoughts in the Comments section below!
Interesting extensions. I tend to use language that needs empowerment, so Just Not Sorry will probably be a nice addition to my bag of tricks. I hope someone will come up with suggested to make this extension even better. The Grammarly Chrome Extension could be a good addition to these two extensions.
Hi Churchill, Yes, I have found Just Not Sorry to be helpful in alerting me to words that take away from my email messages. I do wish it were available across the Internet.
Thanks so much for recommending Grammarly. I just added it to Chrome and look forward to giving it a try!
Hi Carolyn,
Happy Monday, and hope you had a wonderful Easter weekend 🙂
Coming to the post, these extensions sound wonderful indeed! I hadn’t heard of them earlier, so they are new to me and I’d surely be checking them out soon after commenting here.
I think reword is essential for kids and teens especially, as they are in their formative years and the use of language is important, and of course for elders too. Just not sorry perhaps works only in the compose section of Gmail, not the inbox, as per their reviews, but that should be enough I guess to remind you about the choice of words to use, isn’t it?
Thanks for sharing these Chrome extensions with us. Have a nice week ahead 🙂
Hi Harleena, Yes, it would be great to have Just Not Sorry work across the Internet as reword does. Perhaps that will happen some day.
You’re right, kids and teens in their formative years often need to be reminded of the power of harmful words. Isn’t it great to have an extension that does that automatically?
Both of these extensions are new so I’m glad to share them with Wonder of Tech readers. Thanks for your comment and for sharing this article, Harleena!
Hello Carolyn,
Thank you for this post. I teach at an online school and would like to recommend these extensions to my students and the schools that partner with us.
I hope your Easter weekend was a good one!
Hi Darragh, That’s fantastic you will be recommending these extensions. reword was designed with children in mind as they so often don’t understand the impact of their words. We can all benefit when we are more mindful of our words.
Hi Carolyn,
This is the first time I have read about these two chrome extensions. But it looks that “Just not Sorry” is better than Reword. Although I will give a try to both.
Thanks for sharing.
Hi Robin, I hope you enjoy using these Chrome extensions. Some people may prefer one or another, but it’s good to know they’re available.
Hi,
Helpful Article, Basically, I have already used in Different Chrome Extension, but I have read your complete article and I have learned it something New, I will try it. Thanks for shared.
Hi Asif, I’m glad you like these extensions. I hope you try them and keep them if they work well for you.