The ultimate guide to human content moderation: Everything you need to know

With all the increasing difficulties of content moderation in the digital arena, the amount of violations also increases. It gets harder and harder to keep up with the rate of content being created and uploaded, and artificial intelligence sounds to be the best form of moderation.

But with extremely complex content, technology isn’t still “understanding” enough to decipher nuances on a high volume of posts on the internet. Given that there’s a very dynamic and interactive discourse online, there are a lot of factors that affect how content is deemed acceptable or non-permissible.

To gauge and evaluate these complexities made by humans, there’s no better way to regulate online material other than through human content moderation. 

Find out what human content moderation is and the reasons for its increasing importance in the age of digital transformation.

What is human content moderation?

Human content moderation is the act of manually screening every user-generated content posted on digital platforms. Human moderators determine all platform-specific policies and guidelines needed to be followed–to regulate if each content is permissible or not.

Human content moderation enforces these content guidelines to ensure an appropriate and safe space for all online members of your business community. If a post, for instance, is deemed unacceptable, it will be removed based on its inappropriateness, legality, or its potential to offend an audience.

Why do we still need human moderators?

In this digital era, where 86% of companies capitalize on user-generated content, you might be thinking—why do we still need human moderators to regulate content manually? 

Instead of relying on artificial intelligence, here are the major reasons why businesses perform human content moderation.

Human content moderation deciphers contextual differences

Unlike artificial intelligence, humans have a full grasp of concepts and ideation of varying content posts.

In language use and diction, words and phrases contain different meanings depending on how they are used in a given situation. If a post includes profanities and aggressive vocabulary, AI can flag it as inappropriate without knowing its context or how the words were used in the post.

Images, on another note, can also have a different meaning. Yes, technology can detect what an image is, but it can’t determine how and why it is being used. 

In an event where a user posts pictures of their weight loss journey, AI could categorize it as nudity even if people are wearing appropriate clothing in the post. 

While AI can do a great job of flagging inappropriate content, it encounters difficulty in deciphering contexts and nuances—something easily grasped by humans.

Human moderators have critical thinking

In relation to the first reason, critical thinking is another human quality that AI cannot simulate. Human moderators are able to reason out with contexts and nuances. 

Apart from the ability to conduct in-depth research, historicization, and language process, humans can understand figures of speech in a particular content. They have a deep understanding of how human languages are used creatively and contextually.

Human moderation enables personalized conversations

AI can surely respond to customers in the form of chatbots and other auto-response features. But if you want to create a real connection with your customers, you need to personalize your conversations.

When it comes to personalization, nothing beats the creativity of human moderators. Humans can assess the tone of conversations and offer a human touch. They can level their responses to the mood of the users to make every interaction seamless and easy for them.

With a personalized and humanized conversation with your customers, you can build a great customer relationship with your brand.

Human content moderators can differentiate brand tone

Humans have a better understanding of how the business works. They know the nitty-gritty of every brand suited to the interests of clients.

Upon regulating content, human moderators will be able to pick up on the latest changes and trends on the market. Businesses with this human element will be able to provide tailor-made services to every client they have while keeping their brand tone unique and consistent.

Human moderators can also acquire customers’ feedback on products and services and can respond more appropriately to their suggestions.

The importance of human moderators in AI-powered market

In an AI-powered market, the role of human moderators is indispensable. While it’s also true that artificial intelligence can scan and regulate tons of content, there are a lot of things AI can’t do that only a human can. 

Given the reasons above, it is evident that artificial intelligence is still far from fully replacing humans in the digital scheme. If you want your business to perform its best online, a blended approach of both forms of moderation is essential. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Picture of Jewel Tirona

Jewel Tirona

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