The exponential growth of user-generated content (UGC) on various online platforms presents challenges in maintaining user safety and brand reputation. In the digital age, content moderation services are vital in preserving the security of users while upholding brand integrity.
According to a survey by The Alan Turing Institute, nearly 90% of people between 18 and 34 have witnessed or received harmful content online at least once.
With this alarming rate, how do content moderation companies help protect online users and businesses? How is the industry adapting to the evolving nature of content and the internet in general?
The Role of Content Moderation
For businesses, content is valuable for promoting and elevating their brand. That’s why user content submissions should be filtered on all online platforms, including websites, social media, forums, and blogs where users interact.
The act of monitoring and reviewing UGC in the form of text, images, or videos is called content moderation. In this process, a team of content moderators is responsible for implementing a predetermined set of rules and guidelines to screen content effectively.
Benefits of Content Moderation Services
In today’s age, consumers seek brands that value authenticity and provide a platform to voice out their feedback and concerns. It’s also essential for them to feel a sense of belonging and safety on these platforms.
In this regard, investing in content moderation services offers numerous benefits for both users and businesses.
For Users
People are creating and consuming content now more than ever. According to a Stackla report, 72% of consumers say the amount of time they spend on social media has increased since the pandemic started.
During this time, around 67% reported an increase in online shopping; out of those people, 91% are likely to continue purchasing items online.
Considering these numbers, content moderation is required to reap these benefits for consumers:
- Protect users from offensive, unwanted, and illegal content.
- Secure their privacy by ensuring their personal information will not be shared online.
- Empower customers to express themselves and freely voice out their opinions.
- Provide a positive user experience for safer and more enjoyable engagement.
- Establish an online community for users to exchange ideas, have healthy debates, and participate in brand improvement.
For Businesses
Inappropriate content posted on a business website or other social media channels can severely impact a brand’s image. There is no guarantee that all UGC is safe for their target audience. Through content moderation, businesses can attain the following benefits:
- Lower the risk of negative publicity by eliminating harmful content on online platforms.
- Increase customer engagement and brand loyalty.
- Help comply with laws and regulations to avoid penalties and lawsuits.
- Improve search engine rankings by boosting search engine optimization (SEO) performance.
- Learn how users are responding to products or services.
- Develop new marketing strategies and boost marketing campaigns.
Advancing to AI-Based Content Moderation
As mentioned, automated content moderation is being leveraged to assist human moderators in having a speedy and robust moderation process. Nowadays, top content moderation companies are performing content moderation through AI or artificial intelligence.
In AI-based content moderation, a computer system developed through machine learning models automatically detects harmful language or other forms of content that do not meet predefined standards.
For businesses that want a fast, scalable, and less expensive solution to their content moderation problems, a content moderation company that utilizes an AI-powered system in conjunction with human moderation is an ideal choice.
Is AI content moderation better than humans? In some aspects, yes. However, a content moderation company uses a hybrid technique involving manual and automated content moderation. Here, human moderators oversee the automated screening process and make the necessary decisions based on the platform’s guidelines.
Meanwhile, the tedious task of sorting and filtering hundreds of content in different formats is done instantly through automated content moderation. Through this, human moderators are less exposed to harmful content, which can damage their well-being.
Aside from this, AI-based content moderation offers the following advantages:
- Speed and Scalability: AI content moderation can effectively handle large quantities of UGC at incredible speeds. It can quickly detect and categorize inappropriate content on a platform.
- Reduced Costs: AI content moderation services offer low-cost rates. They can significantly reduce expenses for hiring and training in-house content moderators.
- Adaptability and Customization: Al content moderation systems offer flexibility and customization based on the client’s needs as well as current guidelines and policies. This ensures that it can adapt to evolving trends and align
- Reduced Human Bias: When properly trained, AI-powered moderation can minimize human biases that can impact moderation decisions. It can provide consistent, accurate, and objective content moderation, leading to an inclusive digital environment.
The Evolving Nature of Content
Due to technological advances, the way people create content has shifted drastically. Unfortunately, deepfakes are causing a growing concern in the content moderation industry. These are manipulated media (text, images, or videos) created by copying original material.
Moreover, the advent of multi-immersive experiences (MUIEs) through augmented reality and virtual reality technologies also poses a challenge to content moderators.
With this emerging problem, what do tech companies do to moderate content in the age of deepfake and AR/VR technology?
By training AI systems with larger and more intelligent datasets, it might be able to distinguish deepfake content from authentic ones easily. In the case of MUIEs, a hybrid approach can still be applied with a focus on real-time monitoring of interactions in the virtual space.
The Growing Need For Effective Content Moderation
Along with the evolving nature of content comes the need for more effective content moderation services. Through the continuous development of AI-based content moderation, the challenge of protecting users in the virtual world while preserving brand credibility is possible.
