Vents MagaZine Music and Entertainment Magazine
Related Articles
Content creation is an essential digital marketing strategy for reaching a target audience. Due to the exponential growth of user-generated content (UGC) in recent years, there is also an increasing reliance on content moderation services.
In 2024, the total number of social media users worldwide is expected to rise to 5.17 billion total social media users worldwide, with TikTok being the fastest-growing platform. Moreover, social media advertising is projected to reach $219.8 billion.
With the staggering amount of content that needs to be regulated on the internet, content moderators are getting overwhelmed with harmful material, particularly on social media platforms.
Behind the Scenes: What is Content Moderation in Social Media?
First of all, how does content moderation work? What does a social media content moderator do?
Content moderation on social media platforms involves reviewing all types of UGC before being published based on predetermined community guidelines.
A social media content moderator must implement these policies to protect users from hate speech, bullying, abuse, and other harmful content. They must also continue improving their strategies to adapt to the changing nature of social media.
Companies that invest in social media content moderation services benefit from user and brand safety, increased engagement, and higher conversion rates.
Challenges in Social Media Content Moderation
Despite its numerous benefits, there are some challenges and ethical issues surrounding social media moderation.
Aside from the staggering amount of content produced and shared daily by users, constant exposure to harmful material can have detrimental effects on human moderators.
A content moderator for social media may face the following challenges:
1. Volume of Content
Due to the 24/7 nature of social media, moderators need to manage the constant stream of content being uploaded on the platform. They must ensure all posts and interactions comply with the platform’s rules and guidelines.
To have an idea about the amount of content users produce, consider this fact about Facebook: 300 million photo uploads are recorded every day. At the same time, 510,000 comments and 293,000 statuses are posted and updated respectively every minute.
Clearly, manually sifting through the ocean of social media content is indeed a tedious task for human moderators.
2. Diversity of Content
Aside from the content volume, social media moderators must also handle diverse content published on the platform. They must be able to perform text, image, and video moderation.
With the advent of live streaming, content moderation services must be capable of reviewing chat and comments in real-time and in multiple languages.
3. Cultural Nuances and Global Sensitivities
Another challenge in social media content moderation is the global nature of content. Moderators need to review content and make decisions considering global and cultural sensitivities.
Working with an international audience necessitates knowledge and understanding of nuanced content to avoid misunderstandings and make fair judgment calls.
4. Emotional Well-Being
Since a content moderator’s role involves viewing disturbing content and consistent decision-making, it can cause a severe psychological toll on them.
Prolonged exposure to violent and graphic content can lead to symptoms of insomnia, panic attacks, anxiety, depression, and even post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Evolving Strategies in Content Moderation for Employee Well-Being
With human moderators on the front line of safeguarding digital spaces, it is essential to consider their emotional well-being when developing new content moderation strategies.
The cat-and-mouse game between content moderators and bad actors can be best approached by innovations like artificial intelligence or AI.
Through an automated or AI-powered content moderation system, human moderators can do less of the heavy lifting. AI tools can optimize the moderation process by reviewing large amounts of data with impeccable speed using keyword analysis and machine learning algorithms.
AI-powered content moderation can also provide round-the-clock content moderation services and cover all types of UGC.
As a result, human moderators will be less exposed to distressing media online. They can focus more on overseeing the AI-assisted moderation process, handling more complex cases, and improving community guidelines.
Choosing the Right Content Moderation Partner
Social media moderation services can be outsourced to an external provider. However, not all companies are a perfect fit for your business. That is why, in choosing the right content moderation partner, you should consider the following:
Employee Wellness and Mental Health
After searching the pool of content moderation providers in the market, you should narrow them down to those that invest in supporting their content moderators.
A partner that allocates resources to train and protect their employees’ mental health is a huge green flag. Aside from their mental health, they should also provide ideal working conditions for them to perform their job effectively.
Technology Used
Content moderation solutions should also tap into the latest technologies, like AI, to reduce the exposure of human moderators to harmful content.
More so, AI-based content moderation services can adapt to the time-sensitive nature of UGC and improve the accuracy and speed of the moderation process.
Proven Experience
The vendor must also highlight its expertise and experience in the industry through a proven track record. It must show case studies of successful clients who used their services. Take note that their services should also align with your business needs.
Data Security
Last, you should consider the provider’s ability to secure the company’s information and user data. They must have security protocols and safety measures in place to ensure the responsible handling of sensitive data.
Building a Better Content Moderation Design
Content moderation in the digital age presents many challenges. With the prevalence of harmful content, the human cost of content moderation cannot be neglected. Although it is essential to keep the internet safe, it is also important to consider the well-being of human moderators working tirelessly to achieve this goal.
In building a better content moderation design, leveraging AI technology is a promising route. By combining AI and human moderation together, upholding user safety while protecting your employee’s welfare becomes possible.
