Social media moderation is a hot topic every time I run a workshop. I’ve covered it a few times as well, such as in the Music Gear Bechdel Test, and it frequently comes up in discussions on Mid-Riff.
Clearly, people want some guidelines on how do this effectively and equitably. So, who am I to deny them?
First, you have several considerations.
What is your current capacity?
Are you a 1-2 person staff? If so, then your approach might be slightly different than a company with a full-time social media person or team. Think about it this way— can you respond within 20 minutes of a terrible comment showing up? Lots of people can be turned off from your brand or possibly from the gear world in general if you can’t respond in a timely fashion. More on this shortly!
How much do you like hanging out on social media?
Are you way into social media? Or maybe your brand is associated with you specifically as a person (and your posting/responding)? Then you might need/want a heavier hand in your moderation.
How much knowledge do you have around equity?
If you don’t know what to say when someone makes an offensive comment or know resources to share, then you need to: A) educate yourself; B) be hyper considerate about the content you share so that you are less likely to have to do that type of moderation.
These questions will determine your social media moderation style. Of course, you can use a combination of these styles or techniques, and most do, but understanding your capacity, abilities, and facilities in this area can help in this decision.
Always-on Responder
If you are down for the cause, have a good understanding of the dynamics of anti-oppression work, and like being on social media, get on board— this is your train. It’s hard, and once you have the capacity, it might be great to train someone to help you, so you don’t have to take this on yourself 100% of the time. That’s a lot!
Followers Lead the Way
Already created a really amazing, thoughtful, and inclusive community? This preventative measure makes pretty much everything easier because your community will do the work for you— they will shut down trolls and share educational info while you are sleeping at night.
Burn it All Down
Screenshot, delete, or maybe even block. If you don’t have the capacity to deal with it, or if you are from an oppressed group and you can’t handle having to educate one more person in the comments, this might be the method for you. It’s your page— your rules. Just make sure you do it quickly!
Transformative Justice
Got a commenter who could use some education— someone who isn’t a troll, but is maybe a little misguided? Scoot them a DM with a link to some educational info. Whereas the Always-on Responder might take this head-on in the comments, this approach might be a little less heavy-handed and public, allowing the commenter to learn something and maybe they will even choose to make things right (and they will be less likely to hate you and your company forever for publicly shaming them).
Your responses might also be determined by the type of content you are sharing. Here are a few different types of content that might require a keener moderation eye:
Content featuring cis women, trans, and non-binary folks or BIPOC folks.
If you don’t have the capacity to manage this content, you may choose to screenshot and delete it and that’s OKAY; and honestly, if you don’t have capacity to moderate, it’s probably better to steer clear of pics featuring people— better to have no people than only cis white men or a troll-fest of a comment section that you can’t manage!
It doesn’t matter how someone is dressed or the genre of music— or anything else. The trolls will come out. And sometimes these folks will use subtle comments to slide under your radar. That’s where education comes in, as understanding the nuances of these comments is key.
Content featuring any of those folks ON the gear or with a potentially offensive name
Some folks cannot keep their inner 11 year old from emerging and unfortunately, you will be responsible for squashing that. Better yet, don’t create or post gear with offensive names!
Sometimes, an image can be totally innocuous, and folks still have to make a comment. If you are going to do this well, you need to respond.
Posts that focus on donations to an organization, social justice, political, or potentially controversial content
Probably not a surprise here, but worth noting! Keep your eyes peeled if you are going there, have potential rebuttals queued up in advance… you know they are coming!
One additional recommendation would be to write up community agreements or guidelines for your page, which you can highlight on Instagram, pin on Facebook, or include a link to in each YouTube video description. That way, no one will be surprised when you bring the moderation wrath.
I have said it before and I will say it again— this is HARD, HARD work. And doing it is part of the work of social change. To all the social media managers and content moderators out there, I appreciate you and all you do.