Twitter used to brag that it was “the free speech wing of the free speech party,” but recently the party was crashed by the company’s security team, who launched a protocol aimed to decrease users’ exposure to abusive content.  It’s both a step forward and a step back.  Forward because it’s effective.  Back because it’s a tactic that’s been around since the 90s.

If a user begins tweeting abusive messages, triggering the protocol will cause them to be seen only by those following them.  If the follower retweets the message, it won’t be visible to those who follow that user.  In the 90s, making posted content only visible to the poster was called “throwing the Bozo flag” or being sent to “banned camp.”  Several of my larger clients still successfully use that tactic.

At Twitter, the restriction is temporary, usually lasting 12 hours, and, unlike Bozo flags of the past, the affected user is notified with a “We’ve temporarily limited some of your account features” because of “potentially abusive behavior.”

While there is room for improvement (such as an appeals process for those who feel they weren’t breaking the rules), a sizable “free speech” backlash, and accusations that the company is making the changes to become a more lucrative to potential buyers, I applaud Twitter’s efforts to reduce trolling.  As Twitter’s vice president of engineering Ed Ho said, this is one step toward effectively reducing abuse and the campaign will continue until there is “a significant impact that people can feel.”  I’m feeling it.

The post Twitter Throws the Bozo Flag on Trolls appeared first on Online Moderation.

Lego Life’s concerns for the safety of its users are evident in many ways: users under 13 must have their parents provide email permission, profiles are avatars that users create from a list of traits, usernames are randomly generated from a three-word sequence (i.e. ChairmanWilyDolphin), all user-generated content is premoderated, no photos are allowed that contain human faces, and most responses are either controlled by using emojis from a special keyboard or selected from a list of phrases.  Users are allowed to use their own words when responding to official Lego content.  A version for the web is in development.

Lego Life is a win-win for both the company and its customers.  The app increases brand loyalty and keeps kids safe. When they aren’t using it, they are presumably building new Lego creations.  That’s just fine with Lego Group’s senior director Rob Lowe, who says of kids who use the app, “One of its core purposes is to put their iPhone down and go do something else.”

The post Lego Life App Combats Trolls and Bullies appeared first on Online Moderation.

For many families with small children, the Elf on the Shelf is a Christmas tradition.  Based on the 1994 book and toy by Carol Aebersold and her daughter Chanda Bell, during the Christmas season, the Elf is sent by Santa to watch over children during the day.  When they go to bed, he goes back to the North Pole and tells Santa if the children have been naughty or nice.  Each morning, the Elf appears in a different place (where parents place him the night before), leading children on a hunt to find and replace him when they awaken.

Moderators are the online version of the Elf on the Shelf, watching over interactive areas and reporting to clients which users have been trolling and which deserve special kudos for helping others.  Unlike the elf, online moderators are in the same place every morning, they work overnight, and not just during the Christmas season.  Do you need a watchful presence on your community spaces?  Give us a call and we can discuss the ways we can help you turn naughty into nice.

The post Online Moderation is the Elf on the Shelf appeared first on Online Moderation.

At the heart of community management is keeping community members safe.  If a member threatens another member with harm (i.e. “I know where you live and I’m coming over right now”) or harming themselves (“I’m going to take every pill in my medicine cabinet”), community managers need to act fast.  They need to know who to contact (the client’s security division, the IP and ISP of the member, and law enforcement officials) and what information they need to provide (at the very least, a copy of the message, the IP address, and a log entry that identifies the exact time of the post).  Usually, security, ISP, and law enforcement officials take it from there.

It’s important for community managers and moderators to know the difference between a credible personal threat and “trash-talk” that takes place in the heat of a debate or argument.  As a best practice, my moderation team and I err on the side of caution: If I think a threat “may” be credible, I will escalate it to the next level.  If law enforcement is contacted, they track down the poster, and that person may be charged with a crime if they were “trolling.”

Patrick and I also discussed Facebook’s intention to use machine learning to automate the moderation of its interactive areas.  We agreed that Facebook’s moderation tools are severely lacking and that patenting them isn’t something worthy of a news release.

For more information and to hear the podcast, stop by the Community Signal website.

The post Steve Brock discusses Online Safety on the Community Signal Podcast appeared first on Online Moderation.

Last week, British tabloids, particularly The Sun and Daily Mail, angered Prince Harry enough to issue a public statement about their treatment of his relationship with U.S. actress Meghan Markle.  On November 8, the Kensington Palace Communications Secretary, on behalf of Prince Harry, asked the press to “pause and reflect before any further damage is done.”

In the statement, Harry accused the tabloids of a “wave of abuse” that threatened the safety of Markle and her friends and family.  The abuses included references to intimate scenes from the “Suits” TV show appearing on adult websites, as well as references to Markle being bi-racial (her father is white and her mother is black) and a divorcee, which led to vicious sexist and racist trolling in the articles’ comment sections.

What the tabloids print is up to their editors, who face legal challenges if the content goes too far (I’m still wondering how the Daily Mail got away with the headline: “”Harry’s girl is (almost) straight outta Compton: Gang-scarred home of her mother revealed”), but the comments are easy to control with proper moderation.  If conduct guidelines are easy to find, explicit, and regularly swept by the moderation team, Harry should have no reason for complaint.

Are your comments sections full of sexist and racist trolls?  Are you afraid that Harry may complain about you next?  If so, contact us to find out how we can help you put the trolls back under the bridge.

The post Prince Harry Asks Internet Trolls and Tabloids to Lay Off His Girlfriend appeared first on Online Moderation.

Due to continuing issues with spammers, trolls, and others intent on disrupting online interaction, The Chicago Sun-Times, The Week, and, most recently, NPR have removed the ability for users of their websites to post comments.  Last week, the Suffolk Times, citing an article which described a group of comment area trolls who impersonated another user for months, printed an editorial about the trend.

In it, they quoted Ben Frumin, editor-in-chief of The Week: “If I was painting a picture of a site we were gonna have,” he said, “and then at the end I said, ‘Oh, by the way, at the bottom of all our articles we’re going to prominently let any pseudonymous avatar do and say whatever they want with no moderation’ …you would think that was a crazy idea.”

The Suffolk Times editorial concluded with a statement that editors were also discussing turning off article comments on their website, leaving users to post responses on social media sites such as Facebook, “…where the taxing responsibility of comment moderation doesn’t fall solely on a newsroom staff that could better serve readers by reporting the news.”

And that is the crux of the matter.  Newsroom staff should serve readers by reporting the news, and as Frumin says, there should be no sites where users can say what they want with no moderation.  Moderation is the obvious solution to both issues, as well as the impersonation one.  It is cost-effective, reduces risk, protects your precious brand image, and insures that comments will be on-topic and civil.

Mzinga moderators currently provide world-class services to several high-traffic news sites.  Why not talk to us about how moderation can help you as well?  Don’t stop the conversations: enhance them.  If you tell your users to stop commenting on your articles, they will also stop reading them.

The post Moderation Solves Trolling Issues on News Sites appeared first on Online Moderation.