Admit it or not, today’s generation is highly engrossed in viewing and sharing videos online. Whether it’s on Tiktok, Youtube, Instagram, or other social networking platforms, people make sure they don’t miss anything that their favorite vloggers and Tiktok influencers post. Pardon the exaggeration here, but it’s safe to say that these platforms are already part of everyone’s lives.
What can we say? It’s an amazing way to spend your free time! Not to mention, video content has become a way to show the world your talents and passion! It wouldn’t hurt to be the next Bella Poarch or Charli d’Amelio just for a day, would it?
The impact of video-sharing apps has reshaped the way we socialize with other people. Interestingly, studies show that the average users’ screen time on TikTok has reached over 89 minutes on a daily basis. No wonder businesses have started to use these platforms for marketing purposes.
Multimedia content currently plays a significant role in streamlining the process of driving traffic to one’s internet platform. Although images, GIFs, and infographics appeal to audiences of all ages and genders, videos are arguably the most popular among these. From a five-second ad or a brief explainer video, video content has evolved to a more essential tool for marketers to thrive in the GenZ+Millennial era even amid the quarantine blues. In fact, roughly 81% of companies worldwide agree that videos have helped them improve their B2C marketing strategies in 2020.
Meanwhile, online trolls have become more and more sophisticated with carrying out their misdeeds. Videos are being taken advantage of to offend, abuse, defame or exploit an individual or even a brand online. Such threats compromise the credibility of a brand or damage the very image of a person, regardless if they are a regular internet user or a famous online personality.
This is where video content moderation enters the picture.
At first glance, the concept of the term may sound complex and hard to understand. But there’s no need to worry because all you need to know about video content moderation will be tackled in this blog. We know you’re super psyched about that new life hack video you saw on your feed a while back, but if you want to know more about video moderation, then you might want to put your phone down and take time to read this blog. We guarantee it will be worth your time!
What is video content moderation?
Video moderation is a content monitoring process where all types of video content undergo a series of reviews to see whether the video or clip is permissible for public viewing. The goal of this review is to get rid of unnecessary or explicit content in a particular video regardless of its duration. Removing unwanted elements can be just a part of the video or it could also include the entire video itself (more on this later).
Now that videos are gradually becoming an integral part of a business’s marketing strategies, a well-structured product video without any racy, abusive, or gory content attracts more potential customers. As such, thinking outside the box while maintaining wholesome visuals and concepts is a must if you want to establish a brand identity that can pique the interests of your prospects.
How does video moderation work?
Overview
Video moderation requires a series of processes in order to ensure excellent results. Just like all types of moderation, it involves both API (Application Programming Interface) and human-powered review.
Below is an overview diagram of how video moderation works.
Once a moderator (or a user) flags a video content, they can use content moderation APIs or Review APIs to evaluate the content. These APIs automate the process of authenticating whether the flagged content should be taken down or not.
However, automated moderation is just 80 to 90 percent accurate. That is why human review comes in last to double-check whether the content is good to go or not before it shuttles all the details back to the system or platform where the report originated.
In addition, the process ensures that the quality of the video adheres to platforms’ standards in terms of resolution, aspect ratio, length, and even lighting (this is for viewers diagnosed with photosensitive epilepsy).
Video Moderation In Action
The constant development of the internet’s algorithm has enabled streaming and video-sharing platforms to adapt to the viewing behavior of users. And with respect to the business sector’s point of view, this has simplified the process of being visible to their target audiences.
The main goal of video streaming platform algorithms is to suggest video content under the specific viewing preferences of users based on their search and viewing histories.
Say, a user’s search history revolves around how-to and tutorial videos, the platform should suggest related video content to ensure that the user finds what they’re looking for. Some platforms can even ask their users about their interests for them to easily identify what type of content should be displayed every time they open the website or app.
In this light, moderators on these streaming platforms, especially on popular ones like YouTube and TikTok ensure that their audience gets the best video results simply by opening the platform’s homepage.
Lately, these popular video streaming platforms have revamped and updated their content moderation process to make sure that all videos uploaded abide by their strict guidelines and policies.
Take YouTube, the most popular video-sharing site across the globe. With an average of 5 billion videos watched on a daily basis, Youtube is without a doubt the “King of All Streaming Platforms”. But, wearing that crown is not just for bragging rights, but as a responsibility. Just like a real king, they have to live up to that (not to mention that it is owned by Google).
That’s why they started to revamp and update their moderation processes recently, to ensure the safety of their users and maintain their credibility online. They come up with a new figure metric called violative view rate or VVR to keep track and evaluate the effectiveness of their current moderation processes. This is especially useful in today’s time where their moderation team is skeletal due to the ongoing global crisis.
Another example is TikTok. This up-and-coming video-sharing platform has taken the internet by storm! However, even companies under the spotlight are not safe from malicious users. More and more users are posting videos depicting abuse, racism, and violence. Although TikTok is geared with automated moderation systems, it wasn’t able to manage such influxes of negative content.
For additional reference, did you know that Pakistan has banned TikTok four times? It was due to the platform giving access to users posting obscene and dangerous video content. To lift the ban, TikTok did its part by removing videos that are insensitive to users’ feelings, political standpoints, and religious beliefs. To be exact, 61,951,327 videos were deleted on the platform globally. Unfortunately, that number comprises merely 1% of all the overall numbers of videos that should be removed on the platform. To maintain the loyalty of its users, TikTok stated that they will not stop until all types of video content showing hostility are handled immediately.
What can you benefit from video moderation?
Moderating videos is beneficial not only to users but also to the business’s end. Here are some notable benefits that you can get with video moderation.
1. Builds Trust
Videos that adhere to guidelines and respect the point of view of users help you to establish stronger ties with your clients; thereby, leading to higher retention and acquisition rate.
2. Gives You an Edge
Since videos are more appealing to audiences, maximizing well-crafted and moderated videos gives you a competitive edge to stand out especially when the video concepts appease the cultural and subjective preferences of audiences.
3. Seamless Knowledge Sharing
Videos with comprehensive content allow you to educate your prospective clients more seamlessly. Filling in your clients’ knowledge base with in-depth details about your product and services greatly affects their decision-making. Being able to educate them and show them that you are a reliable solution provider goes a long way down in being successful in your niche.
4. Gain Protection Against Online Trolls
The two-sided benefit of moderation protects you and your clients against online threats caused by trolls. With moderators in place, you become more proactive in dealing with content that can tarnish the reputation of your brand as well as reducing your clients’ exposure to unwanted video content.
5. Foster a Spam-Free Viewing Experience
Since moderation helps you identify which part or which clips should be removed. This allows you to immerse your viewers into a viewing experience away from spam and trolling schemes.
The manner in which you deliver your brand’s voice must evolve into something that can adhere to the preferences of modern consumers. In the form of videos, You can easily build a stronger relationship with your clients in the form of videos, but with the dangers lurking on the interweb, you must come up with effective countermeasures to protect you and your target audience from such online threats. Video moderation is one of the most effective solutions. It may sound complex, but using this blog as a reference, helps gear your business or reputation enough to take on the UGC-related challenges that you will encounter in the future.
Pardon the pun here, but watch yourself out there!
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