Every Business Needs Chat Moderation. Here Is Why

With over 4.5 billion people engaging in real-time conversation online, chat moderation becomes an essential thing. The hate speeches, misinformation, explicit content, harassment, derogatory comments, etc, need to be in check with the rising open chat system.

What is Chat Moderation?

In simple terms, chat moderation is a way to monitor and manage user-generated chat content. The main motto is to create a safe environment that is appropriate and safe for all. Moderators help in this by blocking and managing inappropriate content from reaching others.

Why is Chat Moderation Important?

Now that we understand what chat moderation is, let’s look at some of the reasons why it is important for all industries, businesses and spaces.

1. Community Safety

Online community trends are on the boom, but one troll, spam content, or offensive comment can break the peace. Moreover, the absence of chat moderation can make these communities a hotbed for cyberbullying, harassment, illegal content sharing and things beyond our imagination. For making a safe community where every individual is safe, moderation becomes a first line of defence.

2. Brand Reputation and Retention

What makes a brand is its community-earned reputation, and this reputation is a result of good company values and culture. Without chat moderation, customer service can suffer a lot. This is the age of AI, and we all know the famous incident of unmoderated Grok response that led to thunder in the AI chatbot industry. That incident taught us well why every brand needs to have a robust chat moderation management so as to uphold and boost the brand name and image, and create trust among the public, leading to increased sales and, in turn, an increase in revenue.

3. Legal Compliance

Another major thing that every business should consider is legal compliance. Without chat moderation, businesses can fall prey to legal risks. As strict content regulations are necessary for online platforms to follow. For instance, apps on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store require a document for moderation practices to be eligible.

Types of Content That Need Moderation

Content can be of varied types, and each type of content requires moderation. Some of the common chat types are:

Text-Based Content

Chats were originally in the form of text, and thus it was the primary source of hate speeches, phishing attempts, harassment and whatnot. Chat moderators must block offensive language, harassment, misinformation and spamming while keeping a check on text-based content.

With tons of texts being generated, human moderators have failed to offer fast and efficient checks. Here comes an AI chat moderation tool that now assists human moderators to monitor and manage volumes of content in one go.

Image Content

With the rise of emoticons, stickers and image-sharing chatting platforms like Snapchat, image chat moderation has also become equally important. Image sharing is a common form of explicit adult content, graphic violence and intimidation. Thus, chat moderation tools built with computer vision and AI can detect and monitor inappropriate content.

Audio Content

Voice is no exception, and it forms a big chunk of conversation that happens over gaming and social media platforms. Moderation is equally important in audio content. But when it comes to audio content, it becomes complex to scan audio in real time, very intent and respond quickly.

Moderation Methods:

There are two methods of moderation. Originally, it was done by human beings manually, while now it is being done by next-gen technologies such as AI chatbots.

Manual Moderation

Manual moderation or human moderation is a process in which humans are given the task to check each content manually. Every business used to have either employees or trusted community members to review and respond to user behaviour. Manual moderation has various benefits such as emotional intelligence, intent and context awareness and different responses for different situations.

Though these advantages can never be overtaken by bots, manual chat moderation does have some limitations, such as high cost of human labour, time-consuming responses and the need for training.

Automated Moderation

As the technology hit its pinnacle of performance with AI taking over every industry, AI chat moderation took over. It brought scalability and efficiency to moderation that was always required. Powered by Natural Language Processing, Machine Learning, and AI, these automated moderation blocks and monitors content in real time.

Its benefits can’t be overstated. From advanced filtering, shadowbanning, IP banning, pattern recognition to blocklisting, an automated moderation tool is 24*7 at its service.

Chat Moderation Best Practices for Online Safety

Each type of chat moderation comes with its benefits and limitations. And to mitigate the limitations and facilitate benefits, there are some tips that need to be followed.

Best Practices for Manual Moderation

When a human is in the judgment chair to check the guidelines being followed, the process may get slow and have human error. To minimise these limitations, follow these practices:

• Connect with the team

Connect with the community by spending time interacting with users. This will help you understand the tone, user behaviour and pain points. Moreover, this will enable you to make quick judgments on intentions.

• Team building

Chat moderation requires a team with a strong communication flow among moderators. It is not a solo job, and discussion and support among the team can offer efficient and scalable chat moderation.

• Using Moderation Tools

When human capabilities are combined with technology, the results are amazing. If your platform has a built-in moderation tool, learn and use it to offer real-time moderation. It can help you block spamming and keep the non-verified users at bay.

Automated Moderation Best Practices

Automated moderation (automod) uses rules and AI tools to help control large volumes of content. You should combine automod with manual efforts for better results. Use these modes and tools to keep chats safe:

• Follower Only Mode

Allow only users who have followed your channel for a set time to chat. You can set the time from a few minutes to several months. This rule filters out most trolls and bots.

• Unique Chat Mode

Prevent users from sending the same message over and over again. This stops spam and keeps conversations meaningful.

• Slow Mode

Let users send only one message every few seconds. This helps control the pace of the chat and reduces message floods during busy times.

• Sub-Only Mode

Limit chat access to subscribers, VIPs, and moderators. This is useful during important announcements, high-traffic moments, or fundraising events.

• Emote-Only Mode

Allow users to chat only using emotes. Use this when you want to avoid off-topic or negative conversation during sensitive moments.

Conclusion:

Chat moderation is a non-negotiable priority in a world where freedom of speech is often misunderstood and misused. If moderation is not at the forefront of your business operation, you may suffer greatly. From users leaving your platform to facing legal notices, brand reputation and retention can be dissolved in water.

For a healthy environment and a safe community for all, moderation is the need of the hour. 

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