Content moderation is about responsibility. It means ensuring that user-generated content abides by certain guidelines and rules that make them fit for publishing. It is important that content posted on any website meets all their site’s standards and regulations.
Of course, this is nowhere more prevalent than in social media. With the amount of content generated on several platforms, even on an hourly basis, content moderation is absolutely important. Companies often consider their social media pages an extension of their business and the easiest way people can access them. A company’s image online can be shaped by the level of content moderation they exercise.
The Types of Moderation
Content moderation used to be about having a keen human eye to review content. However, with so much data flowing on a daily basis, this is proving to be ineffective. Prolonged exposure to harmful, negative content also has dire consequences for moderators in this role.
As such, different types of content moderation exist to help regulate data better. You can boil content moderation down to two types.
Post-Moderation
The most common form of content moderation. Content is submitted to a queue and screened by moderators before they are made public. Content that violates site terms or is flagged are removed. Many businesses see this as the most basic, viable option especially if they are just starting out or have a modest reach.
Bigger businesses can also rely on their audience to report posted content that they find inappropriate. While having an automated publishing platform sounds great, it also means that inappropriate content may remain online longer than it needs to. Businesses can tap into their users to flag inappropriate content even after publishing, helping to also develop better relationships with them.
Automated Moderation
Algorithms powered by artificial intelligence is the centre of this form of moderation. The use of technology has made moderation much faster, easier and safer. Businesses use automated moderation to analyze both text and visuals to see if they meet the standards of what can be posted. With particular keywords in place, algorithms can spot patterns in conversations, along with potentially problematic terms used.
More advanced automation can help analyze visuals as well. They can set guidelines and parameters that help with image recognition in user content. As an automated system, this also greatly helps protect human moderators from being exposed to negative, upsetting content regularly.
Overall, it’s clear that some approaches still require a human presence, while others can be simply automated. There are also some that require a harmonious combination of both. While the speed and precision of automated moderation is very efficient, nothing still beats the human eye and input reviewing the content especially in more complex situations. Always remember that context is key.
How Content Moderation Benefits Businesses
With all this in mind, you can see a better picture of why content moderation is important. Having a stringent process in place allows businesses to classify the kind of information and content they want other people to see.
By rooting out what they deem to be toxic or inappropriate, they build a solid foundation of their identity online. Here are three key reasons why businesses should invest in better moderation.
Brand and User Protection
At its core, this is what content moderation revolves around. Not only does it help protect how people perceive your business online, but also your target audience. It’s true that businesses cannot control what people think. However, they can decide what they see and let them have the final say. Whether it’s a text, photo or video post, moderation will help determine what content your business deems acceptable. In turn, this gives people an idea of what your business – and audience by extension – is all about.
Overall, having content moderation in place ensures that your site is not home to anything negative, offensive or upsetting.
Better Audience Understanding
Because of content moderation, you can gain a better understanding of what your target audience is looking for. If your website presents itself as authentic and relatable, your business becomes something worth looking into. Relying on edgier, more free-flowing content attracts like-minded audiences. Regardless of the experience you want to present, moderation enhances audience relations and expectations of what they will find when they visit your site.
Based on these patterns, your business’ marketing team can use these insights to create an actionable strategy that taps into the audience’s behavior and opinions. It can also help determine any areas of improvement that the business can address to reach an even wider audience.
Improve online visibility
User-generated content and feedback help drive business visibility. That is, whether good or bad, people will talk about what a website publishes. Smart businesses today see the value in this unique content. They also know what it means to avoid negative approaches brought by it. Content moderation allows for users to post as much content they want, but gives enough elbow room for moderators to see if they are appropriate. Doing so helps drive quality traffic to your site and gaining the attention of your potential target audience.
Closing Thoughts
Content moderation’s biggest benefit is that it helps keep your audience safe and engaged while maintaining visibility. With consistent content that adheres to standards set, businesses can continue to generate interest in a more positive light. Having a content moderation team in place helps filter out problematic content that goes against what your company wants to present. As mentioned above, businesses cannot control what people think of them. But by presenting properly moderated content to them, they see the best version of themselves that will allow people to have the last word.
Citations:
Beveridge, Claire. “User-Generated Content (UGC): What It Is + Why It Matters.” 26 Mar. 2024.
HGS Offshore Staffing Solutions. “A Guide to Enhancing Your Online Presence.” HGS Offshore Staffing Solutions, 6 Oct. 2022.
