Category: Content Moderation

Massive amounts of text, images, and videos are produced daily, and marketers need a mechanism to monitor the material their platforms charge for. It is essential to uphold a secure and reliable customer environment, track social influences on brand perception, and adhere to legal requirements.

The screening of relevant content users upload on a platform is called online content moderation. The procedure entails the use of pre-established guidelines for content monitoring. The content is flagged and deleted if it does not adhere to the rules. The causes can range from:

• Violence
• Offensiveness
• Extremism
• Nudity
• Hate speech
• Copyright violations
• A plethora of other issues

Online content moderation aims to maintain the brand's trust and safety program while making the platform safe. Social media dating websites, applications, markets, forums, and other platforms frequently employ content moderation. In this blog, let's dig deeper into the different types of content moderation services and technologies used.

The Need for Online Content Moderation

Platforms that rely on user-generated content need help to remain on top of an adequate amount due to the massive amount of content created every second. Therefore, the only method to maintain a tap on a brand's website per your standards is by filtering offensive text, photographs, and video content.

Additionally, it aids in preserving your reputation and your clientele. With its assistance, you can ensure that your platform fulfills the intended function and does not provide a platform for spam, violent content, or other inappropriate material.

When determining the optimal method to handle content moderation services for your platform, many considerations come into play, including:

• You put business first
• The many forms of user-generated content
• The characteristics of your user base

Types of Content Moderation Services

In this section, let's see the main types of online content moderation processes you can choose for your brand.

1. Automated Moderation:

Automated online content moderation significantly relies on technology, particularly AI-powered algorithms, to screen and evaluate user-generated content. Comparatively, it provides a quicker, simpler, and safer method than manual human moderation.

Automated tools for text moderation can recognize problematic words, pick up on conversational tics, and do relationship analyzes to assess the content's suitability.

Images, videos, and live streams are monitored for visual content using image recognition driven by AI techniques like EMAGA. This artificial intelligence (AI) technologies can recognize improper imagery and offer options for limiting sensitive visual threshold levels and types.

Automated moderation is effective and exact when identifying and flagging potentially offensive or harmful information. It is important to remember that technology can only partially replace human inspection, especially in more complicated cases. By utilizing automated moderation, platforms can filter a lot of content, improve online content moderation efficiency, and shield users from spam, violence, and explicit content.

2. Pre-Moderation:

Online content moderation powered by technology improves accuracy and effectiveness but can only partially replace human review, especially in more complicated scenarios. Because of this, technology and human content moderation services are still used in automated online content moderation. It is the most complex method of approaching content moderation solutions.

Because of this, every piece of content must be evaluated before it is posted on your platform. An item is added to the review queue when a user uploads text or a picture. Only when the content administrator has expressly approved it, then it goes live. Although this is the most secure method of preventing hazardous content, this method of online content moderation needs to be more active and suitable for the quick-paced internet environment. However, platforms that demand high security still use this online content management technique.

3. Post-Moderation:

The most prevalent method for content screening is post-moderation online content moderation. Users can publish content whenever they want, but it must first go through online content moderation. To protect the other users, flagged items are taken down. Platforms work to speed up the review process so that relevant content doesn't remain online for an extended period, even though post-moderation is less secure than pre-moderation content moderation solutions. It remains the method of choice for many modern internet firms.

4. Reactive Moderation:

Reactive moderation is counting on people to flag content they deem offensive or violates your platform's policies. Reactive moderation as part of online content moderation services can be helpful in some circumstances. It can be used alone or in conjunction with post-moderation for the best outcomes.

In the latter scenario, users might still flag the content even after it has gone through your moderation procedure. If you wish to employ reactive moderation only, there are some hazards you might want to think about to have a twofold safety net.

5. Self-regulating Moderation:

Although a self-regulating online content moderation platform sounds excellent, it may result in appropriate content staying on your platform for excessive time. Your brand could suffer long-term reputational harm as a result of this. The online community is wholly relied upon for this form of online content moderation to assess and remove content if appropriate. Users use a rating system to indicate if a piece of material complies with the platform's rules. This topic is rarely used because it seriously affects brands' reputations and Lego compliance.

Two Steps to Implement Online Content Moderation

1. Establish Clear Parameters: It is essential to establish clear criteria that specify the content appropriate for your platform. These rules should cover various topics, including forbidden content types, extremism, violence, hate speech, nudity, and copyright violations. The requirements for user-generated content should be made very clear. Remember your target market, demography, and industry particulars when creating these rules. Content moderators will know what content to assess, flag, and remove if explicit criteria are established.

2. Establish Moderation Thresholds: Content moderators should adhere to a certain level of sensitivity when evaluating content. It entails establishing criteria for determining whether content must be removed or flagged. These criteria might consider user expectations, the impact on the platform's reputation, and the seriousness of the breach. It's imperative to strike the proper balance to prevent unduly strict or lenient online content moderation. Keep an eye on these criteria and modify them as necessary in response to user comments, shifting fashion trends, and altering legal requirements.

Conclusion

According to our analysis, there are several possible ways to moderate the content. Pre-moderation online content moderation is likely too slow for the volume of user-generated content today. Because of this, most platforms decide to examine content after it has gone live, which is then added to a moderation queue.

Automatic online content moderation is frequently combined with post-moderation to get the finest and quickest outcomes. You can mix the finest human and machine moderation with semi-automated content moderation. You can improve content moderation solutions with an AI-powered system, shielding moderators from a huge volume of hazardous content.

Experience superior content moderation solutions with Wow customer support from Vserve. You can confidently build your online presence and thank the knowledgeable content moderators for their assistance.

This blog is inspired by the video: "What is Content Moderation? Types of Content Moderation, Tools and More" by "Imagga."

User-generated content has become vital for online businesses. Content from real customers is proof that you've got dedicated brand advocates and products or services worth discussing.

User-generated content takes your brand authenticity and trustworthiness to the next level. It helps establish your brand loyalty and increases your conversion rates in the long term. In fact, 79% of shoppers use user-generated content to make their purchase decisions online. 

Your brand advocates and customers write reviews, snap images, post videos, and publish blog posts with or without promoting your products or services. But some of this content can be objectionable. That’s when content moderation services become important.

What is Content Moderation?

A massive amount of positive and negative user-generated content populates every second. So, businesses that heavily depend on this content need more to stay competitive because of offensive and inappropriate text, videos, and images.

Content moderation involves screening and monitoring user-generated content to determine if the content is inappropriate or illegal. The process entails checking whether the content upholds the regulations of your brand and the platform where it will be published. If it fails to fulfill all the guidelines, the content is removed or flagged as inappropriate. 

A piece of content is considered inappropriate for different reasons. These include extremism, violence, nudity, offensiveness, hate speech, copyright infringements, etc.

That’s why content moderation services have become vital for strengthening brand reputation, customer engagement and security. It has become common among eCommerce websites, social media platforms, dating sites, discussion boards, and other online platforms that are based on user-generated content.

From text-based content, images, and videos to social media pages and websites, all types of content moderation aim to maintain your brand reputation and customers’ security.

While technology can speed up the content moderation process, human review is still irreplaceable. Ideally, you can choose content moderation outsourcing for a combination of both technology and human expertise for assured scalability and efficiency.

5 Reasons to Use Content Moderation Services

It takes about 7 seconds to make the first impression. So, you need to ensure that everything about your brand is positive and engaging to earn a positive first impression. That’s the apparent reason why you need content moderation services. 

Other top reasons include the following:

1. Protect Your Brand and Customers

Fake news about your brand, product, or industry can cause havoc. But unfortunately, fake news is prevalent thanks to social networks' omnipresence and ease of information generation and distribution. That’s why monitoring social media for inappropriate content for your brand has become essential. 

A reliable content moderation services provider reviews and moderates your content carefully and effectively. They also protect your customers from bad actors who share misleading, damaging, or toxic content.

2. Social Listening of Your Brand Perception

People feel free to share their thoughts and experiences on the internet. You can understand how your brand is perceived by monitoring your brand's conversation. You can track comments, reviews, or blog-related content related to your brand posted by internet users.

Accordingly, you can take practical steps to limit harmful content and improve your branding efforts timely. You also get a handle on the factors that make your products and services stand out from your competitors.

3. Trace and Understand Customer Behavior

Recognizing customers’ behavioral patterns and responses to your content can be highly instrumental in formulating effective customer acquisition strategies. Content moderation services can help you understand what type of content engages your target audiences. You can use these insights to foster an online community that impacts the purchase decisions of your prospects.

4. Increase Your Conversion Rate

Monitoring social media, websites, and other platforms for your brand-related content can help increase your website's traffic and conversion rates. For example, when people see good reviews, it increases your prospects’ faith in your brand. 

Besides, content moderation makes search engines view your brand as relevant to users' queries. So, it increases your brand visibility on the internet.

5. Scale Your Campaigns

User-generated content can help drive and scale your sales and marketing campaigns. Whether you want to crowdsource an idea, host a contest, or get reviews, an effective content moderation strategy allows you to scale your campaigns without worrying about adverse effects.

Put simply, content moderation outsourcing can be instrumental in strengthening your brand reputation, and improving brand perception and online visibility. In the end, you'll see increased sales and boosted revenue.

What Types of Content Can You Moderate?

The quickest answer is all kinds of content, from text and images to live streaming. 

Text

Text content is everywhere. So, most online moderation services should be able to perform text content moderation for all platforms with user-generated content. 

The variety of textural content generally includes:

• Articles and blogs
• Social media comments
• Blog comments
• Forum posts
• Discussion boards
• Review sites

Please note that catching offensive keywords is not enough. Inappropriate text can consist of a sequence of appropriate words also. When you choose reliable content moderation services, you can rest assured knowing that every text about your brand, product, or service is analyzed carefully. They also consider nuances and cultural specificities during the process.

Image

Moderating images is relatively straightforward, yet clear guidelines and thresholds are essential. In addition, you need to understand the specificities of your audience in different geographics to target cultural sensitivities and differences.

But reviewing many images across various platforms, like Instagram and Pinterest, can be challenging. Expert image moderation services can expose all inappropriate images that can hurt your brand.

Video & Live Streaming

By the end of 2022, online videos will make up over 82% of all consumer web traffic. This goes true for live streaming as well. The surge brings both marketing opportunities and malicious content surrounding your brand. 

But video content moderation is not that easy. So, you can outsource content moderation services to have experts screen video files to find inappropriate content. Moreover, they also screen it to spot any type of text associated with videos, like titles and subtitles. Expert moderators dip deeply into video content on the internet to weed out harmful content. 

Why Outsource Content Moderation?

When hiring content moderation services, you’ve three options – hire a freelancer, an in-house professional, or content moderation outsourcing. 

Freelancers may lack dedication and focus on your project needs. It's because they juggle different jobs at a time. Though they care about quality, they can't relate to your company's success. And an in-house moderator can add an overwhelming overhead expense, considering a fixed monthly salary, training costs, buying software tools, etc.

That’s why it makes sense to choose outsourced online moderation services. Other top reasons to work with an outsourced partner are:

Greater Efficiency

When an offshore team handles content moderation, you can brainstorm high-level strategies like leveraging user-generating content to improve your marketing strategies. So, you get the best of both worlds because you can engage more in customer engagement without worrying about negative stuff. 

Minimize Costs

Outsourcing content moderation services tend to be cheaper than hiring an in-house team that requires time, infrastructure, people, and massive capital. Instead of fixed costs, you benefit from variable costs depending on whether you need 24X7 services or during office hours. Outsourcing is a cheap and hassle-free option to get the job done effectively in less money and time.

Benefit from the Latest Technology

Excellent and up-to-date online moderation services use state-of-the-art technology and the latest infrastructure to work speedily and effectively. On the other hand, an agency that handles much of its work manually may cost you higher and may not yield the expectedly best results. A content moderator equipped with the latest technology can address all your concerns about user-generated content.

Outsource Content Moderation Services to Experts

Now that you know the importance of content moderation, you might be planning to hire a reliable service provider. 

You can trust Wow Customer Support for fully managed content moderation services. Our highly experienced and talented content moderation teams enforce your guidelines across various platforms. We can be available 24X7 or flexibly as per your needs.

We can handle all types of content, from standard text to live streaming. In addition, our content moderation teams analyze the meaning and intention behind every content posted online surrounding your brand. 

We’ve specialists who moderate content on different platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and other third-party media. Our proven processes are flexible, scalable, and efficient to make our online moderation services fit high-demand industries of all sizes and all kinds.

Conclusion

User-generated content can make or break your brand. So, ensure it aligns with your brand's guidelines and the intended platform. Outsource content moderation services to a reliable partner to assure that all negative stuff about your business will be handled timely and effectively. Meanwhile, you can stay focused on your core business activities.

At Wow Customer Support, we can create and scale your team of content moderators while assuring the best quality work. Call us now to check our affordable pricing structures and unmatched flexibility.