Updated
May 27, 2024
Written by
Alyssa Maano
Social media is a valuable tool for communication. In the online business landscape, it bridges brands and audiences. However, the dark side of social media has become more apparent in today’s digital era.
As social media evolves, user behavior and their communication styles have changed as well. Presently, it has become a dangerous avenue where hate and misinformation proliferate. Therefore, moderating social media platforms has become a necessity rather than a nice-to-have.
In moderating digital platforms, the role of social media content moderators is crucial. They reduce the consequences of hateful comments and negative behaviors online.
As businesses continue to embrace social media to reach out to their target consumers, we must explore the significant impact of their contributions in today’s globalized market.
Digital engagement brings about the complex challenge of managing chat conversations, discussions, and debates among diverse users from different cultures and backgrounds. In the world of social media, this intricate duty is performed by a social media moderator.
But what is a social media moderator? What are their responsibilities in ensuring safe and effective communication online?
Social media moderators are in charge of monitoring and screening all types of content published on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, X, YouTube, and even LinkedIn. They review comments, tweets, reels, and photos to ensure compliance with legal standards and community guidelines.
To become a social media moderator, one must thoroughly understand the platform's policies and regulations regarding content sharing and acceptable user behavior. They must also possess critical thinking skills and reasonable judgment to make fair social moderation decisions and fulfill other responsibilities.
But you must be asking, what do social media moderators do?
From ensuring safe digital communication to regulating healthy online interactions, here are the main responsibilities of social media moderators:
The primary responsibility of a social media moderator is to oversee user-generated content (UGC) and ensure that it does not violate community rules and guidelines.
Any form of UGC is evaluated to classify it as harmful or acceptable, depending on predefined criteria. After the assessment, the content will be approved or rejected by the moderator. They can decide to flag, edit, remove, and even restrict users who committed violations.
Interactions on social media are not always positive and meaningful. Many users can engage in heated arguments that could escalate to hateful exchanges containing sarcasm, profanity, and offensive language.
In de-escalating such scenarios, social media moderators must quickly jump into the situation and resolve the issue. They ensure that users engage in healthy discussions by strictly enforcing community guidelines.
Additionally, they must nurture existing online communities on social media by letting users take a proactive role in the moderation process. This means allowing users to raise complaints or report cases of hate speech, cyberbullying, or harassment.
Ultimately, the feat of social media moderators lies in how effectively they can implement platform policies. Through proper reinforcement, users can have safe online experiences. They can communicate with fellow users and publish posts without the fear of being bullied or harassed.
Social media moderators also adhere to legal requirements, especially the ones involving data privacy and security. By staying up to date with these legal and regulatory frameworks, users won’t risk getting their personal information stolen through spam messages or suspicious accounts.
A social moderator must keep tabs on the current trends in social media, such as the rise of short-form video content and the continued popularity of social commerce.
They should also be aware of the latest slang or other forms of informal speech in order to understand the context behind text posts. They must also consider cultural nuances that could also evolve over time.
How do social media companies moderate content?
A content moderation company provides various software and applications to assist human moderators in managing user content across different social media platforms, including:
Content filtering tools are the foundation of social media moderation. They are designed to sift through social media posts to detect texts that contain slurs, swear words, or phrases that suggest intimidation, violence, or sexual intentions.
Through algorithms, keyword filtering is possible, which allows for flagging of potentially harmful textual content.
AI allows for an advanced method of content filtering, automating the content moderation process. It trains machine learning models through annotated datasets that help the system classify harmful content.
AI tools and technologies, including natural language processing, assist human moderators in screening UGC and reducing their exposure to distressing content.
More compelling social media moderation utilizes user report mechanisms. By implementing report options on social media platforms, users can report instances of virtual violations, which social media moderators will further review.
On Facebook, for example, a report function is located on a drop-down menu next to a post. An AI system will remove any post, comment, or story that violates community standards. If further review is needed, the case is forwarded to a human moderation team.
Along with reporting mechanisms, social media moderators also utilize user management tools for real-time monitoring, enabling quick action to non-compliant posts.
These may also feature sentiment analysis, which is useful in gauging the tone of discussions and offers a deeper understanding of user sentiments and context between conversations.
The vast digital freedom has undeniably turned the good into bad. Due to online discourses that unravel hate and negativity, many online brands have struggled to connect with their users and customers.
Thus, the importance of social media moderation in maintaining respectful dialogues on digital platforms can’t be stressed enough. But here are three major impacts of social media moderation in the virtual realm:
Social media is an inherently public platform where users can voice their opinions about politics, social issues, and even the brands they support (or don’t support). Due to excessive internet freedom, harmful content always has a place in digital discussions.
Thankfully, social media moderation encourages civil communication by eliminating harmful comments and remarks. With less exposure to these threats, users can have harmonious online interactions.
For brands that leverage social media, moderating posts on their pages or accounts can significantly enhance user experience. Consumers won’t have to deal with unwanted replies from suspicious accounts or witness rage-driven threads of discussion as they scroll on their favorite apps.
Evidently, effective social media moderation cultivates trust among users and brands. It builds online communities that prioritize a healthy exchange of ideas and information.
With these safe spaces, users can ensure a warm and welcoming environment whenever they log in on social media.
Being a social media moderator doesn’t come without its own set of trials. The dynamic nature of social media brings about perpetual challenges that call for efficient solutions and best moderation practices.
From hate speech to spam, social media moderators face the persistent challenge of dealing with harmful content. Their daily routine involves distinguishing fake news and identifying disturbing, violent, and sexually explicit material to keep communication channels informative and safe for consumers.
This process requires a keen eye for observation and understanding the context behind each post. However, prolonged exposure to distressing online content can have alarming consequences, especially on the psychological well-being of human moderators.
To curb the negative impact of inappropriate UGC, it’s imperative to integrate automated tools alongside a manual approach. This alleviates the burden of performing repetitive tasks while also efficiently removing unsafe posts.
Another main challenge of social media moderators is making impartial decisions to balance free speech and compliance with platform guidelines. When making final calls, they should remain critical and remove any personal biases that could cloud their judgment.
To strike the perfect balance, it’s important to rigorously administer platform rules and practice transparency by making a thorough evaluation of each case and explaining the irrefutability of the decision to the user involved.
In 2024, the number of social media users has surpassed the 5-billion mark. Sadly, this number reflects UGC's sheer volume, making content moderation an even more taxing task, not to mention the struggle of managing content with diverse formats.
To efficiently handle large volumes of data in different formats, adopting an automated moderation system using AI is the most viable solution. An AI-powered system is capable of large-scale processing in the quickest time possible, optimizing the whole moderation process.
Besides evolving content formats, social media also caters to a wide array of demographics with unique communication styles and niches.
For instance, 90% of Gen Z aged 18-24 use social media compared to 88% of Millennials aged 25-34. This age group prefers quick communication through images and short videos, which is why Instagram and TikTok have incessantly gained popularity over time. Thus, content moderators must pay attention to these kinds of social media trends.
Social media moderators can adapt to the ever-changing nature of content by staying up-to-date on Gen Z vocabulary and other age groups while also considering cultural differences and sensitivities, among other factors.
Social media moderation will remain significant as digital communication continues to evolve. Due to rapid technological advancements, AI and machine learning methods will continue to rise to combat emerging threats, including deepfakes and other AI-manipulated content.
Furthermore, platforms can leverage facial recognition technology to analyze facial expressions in images and videos to detect anomalies and unusual elements. Image similarity techniques can also be used to identify disparities between real and fake versions.
Moreover, content moderation companies must also provide extensive datasets that reflect the platform’s identity and principles. By doing so, they can customize AI models better, enhancing the accuracy of its outcomes.
To fight disinformation and misinformation, real-time fact-checking and collaboration with academic institutions and groups dedicated to this cause must be done to educate users on how to be more skeptical and vigilant about internet sources that could spread fake news.
Shifting to a more transparent and proactive approach could ultimately lead to safe, meaningful, and worthwhile communication on social media.
Definitely the unsung heroes of the internet, social media moderators take on a special role in preserving a safe and healthy digital environment. Their work is crucial in curbing the spread of hate speech, misinformation, and harmful content.
By actively engaging with users, enforcing policies, and utilizing advanced moderation tools, these moderators create a space where constructive dialogue can thrive.
As social media continues to evolve, the need for effective moderation practices remains paramount. By adapting to new trends and technologies, social media moderators will continue to be indispensable in maintaining the integrity and safety of digital communication platforms.
If you need (or want!) social media moderation services that will exceed your expectations, NMS offers a team of skilled social media moderators who can enhance the overall quality of digital engagement on your platform.
NMS harnesses AI capabilities and a manual workforce to guarantee secure, hassle-free digital communication for everyone.
Keep the social media communication as smooth as possible. Contact us for more info!
Help us devise custom-fit solutions specifically for your business needs and objectives! We help strengthen the grey areas on your customer support and content moderation practices.
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