Moderation visibility: Mapping the strategies of volunteer moderators in live streaming micro communities

Jie Cai, Donghee Yvette Wohn, Mashael Almoqbel

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

25 Scopus citations

Abstract

Volunteer moderators actively engage in online content management, such as removing toxic content and sanctioning anti-normative behaviors in user-governed communities. The synchronicity and ephemerality of live-streaming communities pose unique moderation challenges. Based on interviews with 21 volunteer moderators on Twitch, we mapped out 13 moderation strategies and presented them in relation to the bad act, enabling us to categorize from proactive and reactive perspectives and identify communicative and technical interventions. We found that the act of moderation involves highly visible and performative activities in the chat and invisible activities involving coordination and sanction. The juxtaposition of real-time individual decision-making with collaborative discussions and the dual nature of visible and invisible activities of moderators provide a unique lens into a role that relies heavily on both the social and technical. We also discuss how the affordances of live-streaming contribute to these unique activities.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationIMX 2021 - Proceedings of the 2021 ACM International Conference on Interactive Media Experiences
PublisherAssociation for Computing Machinery, Inc
Pages61-72
Number of pages12
ISBN (Electronic)9781450383899
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 21 2021
Event2021 ACM International Conference on Interactive Media eXperiences, IMX 2021 - Virtual, Online, United States
Duration: Jun 21 2021Jun 23 2021

Publication series

NameIMX 2021 - Proceedings of the 2021 ACM International Conference on Interactive Media Experiences

Conference

Conference2021 ACM International Conference on Interactive Media eXperiences, IMX 2021
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityVirtual, Online
Period6/21/216/23/21

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Computer Graphics and Computer-Aided Design
  • Human-Computer Interaction

Keywords

  • Content moderation
  • Live streaming
  • Moderation strategies
  • Volunteer moderators
  • Workflow

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