According to Statista, the average daily usage of social media users worldwide is almost 3 hours per day. Most users spend roughly 18 hours with different types of media per day. This accountability just proves that social media has truly emerged in society.
People take advantage of social media to share their personal views, experiences, and opinions. They use their accounts and profiles to showcase when something good is happening to their life. Meanwhile, entrepreneurs are benefiting more from social media by promoting their business through presenting commercial activities or creating content to engage and target more customers.
However, as social media grows rapidly, so does the exposure of online users to the internet’s vast array of dangers. Along with this, it has become a challenge for many businesses and firms to maintain high standards in the content they post on their pages as well as their vigilance on policing UGC (user-generated content).
How do businesses control uploaded content on platforms?
Content moderation.
Since users are free to upload anything on their social media platforms, such as user-generated posts, pictures, and videos, controlling an inappropriate and offensive post and comment is difficult to contain and can damage a business’s brand reputation. The inappropriate contents could be anything such as nude pictures, videos, and images of extreme violence and sexual activities that can be disturbing for online users.
As such, content moderation is vital for marketing platforms. It is a process that gives an advantage to your digital marketing strategy to improve your online reputation. Content moderation guarantees that nothing offensive gets to your site and secures your audience from possible bullying or trolling.
Still, some companies don’t know the importance of moderation in their digital journey. In this article, we’ll share how crucial content moderation is to your business, the different types of content moderation and whether outsource moderation solutions will be for the best of your business or not.
What Is Content Moderation?
Content moderation is the process of ensuring user-generated content should be according to rules and guidelines before it gets published. It is a way to control content by filtering images, ads, text, videos, pages, websites, and online community forums. Content moderators closely monitor and ensure that there is no objectionable content that violates your brand’s value.
The main goal of content moderation is to protect brand reputation and the credibility of the business as well as improve the overall user experience. A versatile online reputation management process is of utmost significance for businesses that run plentiful campaigns.
While businesses use AI and machine learning solutions when the content gets generated at a high rate, humans still play a big part in verifying the accuracy of these solutions.
Types of Content Moderation
There are several factors involved to handle content moderation well, such as business requirements, the focus of your business, different industry standards, and the type of user-generated content you allow.
There are businesses that demand a particular form of moderation. Understanding the different types of content moderation and knowing its strengths and weaknesses can help companies to make wise decisions that they can use for their brand.
What are the five types of content moderation?
Automated Moderation
Automated moderation is done by Artificial Intelligence (AI). These tools are used for filtering offensive and upsetting words. Compared to human-powered moderation, UGc checking powered by AI makes the detection of inappropriate posts seamless and faster than ever.
Also, the IP addresses of the scammers can be detected easily and also be blocked in no time.
AI-powered algorithms can analyze the text and visuals in a speedy process and handle screening for catchphrases that have been determined to be problematic.
With visual content, AI uses image recognition technology to monitor images and videos. These solutions have options for setting rules for visual content and automatically banning anything that is potentially of sensitive context or nature.
The best part about AI moderation is it doesn’t have to deal with the psychological trauma that comes from processing inappropriate content.
Of course, even though automated moderation is speedy, precise, and effective, still, nothing can beat a human when it comes to reviewing more complex content.
Pre-Moderation
This is the type of content moderation in which every piece of content is screened before it is put on live or on your platform. If a user makes a post, it is sent for review to the moderator. The content or post remains in queue until a content moderator reviews it and approves it to be published. If the moderator deems the content in violation of the posting guidelines set for that particular community, the post is denied or deleted. In extreme cases, the user who posted the unsavory content may be suspended or permanently banned from revisiting the website again.
Experts agree that pre-moderation is the best way to avoid harmful content and protect the whole dynamics of the community. On the down side, it’s prolonged process can also be quite tedious. As a result, most platforms are no longer using this method unless they require a high level of security if they cater to a younger audience.
Post-Moderation
The typical form of content reviewing. Users can post what they want, but the content is reviewed once it gets live on the site. When contents are flagged or not suitable for an online community, they are removed to protect users.
Most platforms do whatever they can to shorten the review times so that inappropriate content isn’t live for very long. Though this is not as secure as pre-moderation, it’s still considered a possible option for businesses today.
Reactive Moderation
Reactive moderation is the sole type of moderation that relies on users to report a particular content that they find inappropriate. There are instances where moderators approve a content that is harmful or disturbing to some users. In this situation, users have the freedom to flag content that they think is not safe for the community.
However, there are risks involved if you choose reactive moderation. Since users are the ones who need to report fraudulent contents, this also could remain longer online than it needs to and possibly damage your brand reputation.
To maximize reactive moderation, pair it with automated moderation. Even if users don’t report inappropriate content, AI can detect all user content that is flagged and remove it from the platform or website instantly.
Distributed Moderation
Distributed moderation depends among the community members. The community members can use a voting system to decide whether a particular content should be posted. It should align with your community policies. Since this strategy can be challenging for some businesses due to its legal compliance, it is rarely used.
Why Content Moderation Is Crucial for Your Business?
User-generated content is a valuable tool for brand reputation and trust. It plays a big part in growing your business, yet it also comes with serious risks. These days, a single tweet or post shared by a user can either boost or damage your brand instantly. This is why scalable content moderation is critical for businesses. It will help you to avoid the aftermath of harmful content and also to protect your reputation and your customers.
Content moderation protects your brand and reputation.
Content moderation ensures protection for your website, community forum, or social media platforms even if users upload content that could be damaging to your brand. Even though user-generated content adheres to your community guidelines, it still requires monitoring because of the possible, underlying risks that come with it. You cannot control what people think, but you can edit what they post. That way, you can keep your company’s good reputation.
Content moderation improves your site traffic.
High-quality content helps improve your search engine rankings. User-generated content can fuel your website and platforms. But, additional content can do so much for your brand. Implementing a scalable content moderation strategy can earn more website traffic and gain a better presence online. With more users getting directed to your content, you can reach broader visibility.
Content moderation helps you gain insights into your customer.
One of the benefits of content moderation is that you have the chance to understand your users. Since content moderators search thoroughly your user-generated content, they also know how users respond towards your brands. Businesses can make use of these insights to come up with offers and if there’s a need for improvement.
Content moderation protects users from spam and explicit content.
A vast number of users are using platforms to upload or post unsuitable content including pornographic images, hateful speech and videos, and content that promotes self-harm or abuse. The reality is it is impossible to stop some unscrupulous users from posting something that can offend people, whether it is done overtly or not.
With the help of user-generated content moderation, you can prevent these types of negative content from going online. Moderators filter unwanted content and as a result, your users will feel comfortable using your platforms.
Content moderation scales your marketing campaigns rapidly.
User-generated content is an imperative tool to boost your online marketing campaigns more effectively. A consistently reviewed user content can boost the chances of the business or brand being found on search engines. Since more user-generated content gets to be published, businesses are also presented with an opportunity to rank higher on search engine results.
Whether you want to crowdsource an idea, publish client photos, or get more surveys, having a viable and effective content moderation strategy lets you quickly scale these campaigns without stressing yourself of the negative effects it could leave on your brand.
Why Outsourcing Content Moderation Makes Sense?
There are several reasons why many companies outsource content moderation. One of the benefits of outsourcing service providers is they are well-equipped with the technology and skills that can help to detect all types of harmful and irrelevant content. They often do so with a high-level of accuracy. Outsourcing companies also offer real-time moderation services, value cost-optimization, and are experts in providing high-quality results.
If you decide to outsource to create user-generated content or if your business needs a scalable and timely way to review it, there are several outsourcing companies that can assist you to execute your campaign in a centralized and streamlined workflow.
Final Thoughts
Indeed, having a team of content moderators is vital to your business, especially now that people are taking advantage of their freedom of speech online. With moderators, you can avoid inappropriate posts that could be hateful, offensive, or contain violence and insults. They will ensure that user-generated content is always scanned for appropriateness.
Knowing the type of moderation you will implement in your business is also essential since it will be your business’s first line of defense. Understanding every type of moderation will help you to know and choose the best one for your company.
Content moderation will help you increase your brand’s visibility while maintaining a safe online journey for your users. As a business offering services or products, your reputation is always on the line. That said, make sure that you do all you can to protect it
Whether you decide to hire in-house moderators or outsource to a third-party vendor, it is up to you. The important thing is that your moderators should have a clear understanding of your platform’s guidelines for better moderation and heightened online security.
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