With so many things going on the internet, how would you know if the content you consume is true or just make-believe? Almost half of the internet users’ population are believed to be misinformed. Online moderation companies take the responsibility of cleaning the internet from fake news and other forms of offensive and defamatory contents.

Some social media giants such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube are accused of being biased in showing content for specific groups of users. How does an algorithm really work? What are its responsibilities on posting contents they feed the users?

Read on as we walk you through the basics of social media platforms’ algorithm and how it affects users’ content consumption.

How an algorithm works

Basically, an algorithm is the way a computer executes a program using intricate logic and smart analytics in delivering content to its users. Each social media platform has different sets of criteria for choosing the kind of content for each user patterned on their online behavior.

Here’s how the algorithms for some social media platform works in a nutshell as of writing.

  1. Facebook – Facebook has pledged to prioritize “meaningful interactions between people”. That’s why users get exposed to similar content every day. These content are generated based on their previous engagements. This also explains why some friends and brands you follow are dominant in your feed compared to others.
  2. Instagram – The photo-sharing app recently acquired by Facebook now focuses on content relevancy and recency. Posting on a certain time of day during your target audience’s active hours is crucial to ensure targetting accuracy. This eventually leads to engagement and interaction. On the other hand, Instagram’s search algorithm focuses more on the user’s interests and activities.
  3. Twitter – Contrary to Instagram, Twitter prioritizes relevance than timeliness. You will notice the “In case you missed it” section when you haven’t sign on for a long time. Twitter created this algorithm to ensure the user catches on the most important tweets from people they follow.

People receive contents based on their online behavior and they will keep getting the same kinds of content as long as they engage.

Content moderation companies and users alike need to be familiar with the latest algorithm. Being equipped with the latest algorithm update enables a user to understand how it works. These are useful for making the necessary adjustments to its drawbacks.

Online moderation companies: The cleaners

Most algorithms mentioned rely on user behavior. That’s where the consequences of overflowing social media content come to the picture. Leaving a social media platform unmoderated can mean giving it up to trolls whose intention is to plague social media with inappropriate, offensive content.

Online moderation companies felt the need to meddle. These groups advocate for a clean and peaceful space where only friendly and informative interaction can exist. Based on the latest documentary by Hanz Block and Moritz Riesewick, the content moderators are “The “Cleaners” of the social media space.

It helps keep the balance in various social media platforms by deleting content that does not follow user policy and community standard. Content moderation companies train their employees to objectively sift contents–those that can stay up online and those that need to be taken down.

Online content moderators can read context. This sets them apart from an algorithm. Social media platforms are working their best on improving an AI that will soon shoulder these mind-numbing tasks. However, experts believe that they can do something an AI cannot do. While AI can detect faulty texts and images, the ability to read context also matters and AI is not yet there.

How online moderation companies deal with alleged social media bias

Online moderation companies filter thousands of videos and images every day. Maintain a friendly social media space away from brutality and bullying is still a challenge. After several reports of alleged social media bias, many people believed that platforms are silencing certain groups of people.

Trolls and political party supporters go nuts, posting hate comments toward social media giants. Billions of social media users contribute more and more content every day. This makes moderation a little bit more challenging and urgency is compromised.

This makes sense when an inappropriate post about Party A is taken down right away and a fake content on Party B is still up moments after the former disappeared. Social media channels still function based on their algorithm clearly without bias.

It’s still impossible to make a 100% clean social media atmosphere. Online moderation companies are making their best to act in their roles. However, this will be possible with end users’ participation in practicing safe social media use, regardless of their own biases.

HOPLA offers content moderation services for business that aspire to scale. Call us to discuss how we can help you!