7 signs your charity needs a content moderation service

As our CEO and founder, Rebecca Fitzgerald explains in this blog, content moderation is:

“the process of reviewing and removing [online] content that is inappropriate, illegal, or harmful. It is a critical part of online safety, and essential for brands and charities that want to create a positive and safe online experience for their users.”

When we talk about content we are referring to content that is created by someone other than the owner of that online space – usually content that has been created and generated by a user, or a member of the public. Sometimes, the content can refer to news articles, disinformation or misinformation. Sometimes, user content can be offensive or even illegal. And clearly, safety is a top priority for charities, brands and non-profits. 

Most charities have a dedicated social media and community management team of rockstars to handle the moderation and removal of inappropriate content. But do you have a plan in place for any unforeseen changes to your team, or the community? If you have experienced any of the below scenarios, it may be time to start talking to an outside agency to support your internal team.

Here are 7 signs your charity needs a content moderation service:

1. Your team is struggling to cope and need a holiday. Moderation can be extremely emotionally and physically draining. Handling other people’s feelings can be daunting and it may be time for your team to take some well deserved time off.

That being said, we all know the internet stops for nobody; so having an external team of experts in place allows your moderators necessary time to rest when they need to get away.

2. Your social media accounts or groups are plagued by trolls, negative posters or spam comments and you need expert help to deal with them. Not only does the internet never sleep, virtually anyone and everyone has access to online communication. One day, your well-loved, supportive charity community is awash with spam, harassment, protests and negativity. Your internal community team can only do so much, and you need additional help to get rid of the junk and bring back the positive community front and centre.

3. You provide advice and support to young people or vulnerable audiences. Specific groups have specific needs. This is something you and your charity live day in and day out. Some moderation agencies specialise in understanding the needs of high-risk, vulnerable groups such as under 13s, and marginalised communities. Partnering with an agency that keeps up to date with government policy changes related to vulnerable groups can be extremely beneficial to the success of your communities.

4. You are about to launch a big campaign and your tiny social media team is stressing out about the impending uplift in activity. Fundraising and ad campaigns are an important part of charity work and may require an “all hands on deck” approach. With the goal of increasing your online presence through new subscribers and increased engagement, you may want to consider asking for help to manage the influx of users, content and activity.

StrawberrySocial specialises in campaign and fundraising support – with offerings to coincide with the life of your campaign.

5. Your community has started to take off, and members are growing at a rate faster than your team can keep up. What a great problem to have! However, you’ve noticed your moderation and community team are suddenly backed up under the pressure of handling excessive amounts of new content. This bleeds into other parts of their job which then begin to suffer under the pressure.

An expert agency can take that burden off of your internal team – and transition time to get them up to speed will be quick, and satisfying. At StrawberrySocial, our Moderators and Support Specialists have acquired decades of experience and understand howTrust and Safety works. We’re adept at learning your internal guidelines and processes at a rapid pace, allowing your Social Media and Community team to focus on other important parts of the job. Read more about how we have helped charities like NSPCC with their increased traffic and 24/7 moderation needs.

6. Incoming questions, engagement and activity is happening on weekends and evenings. Your charity’s community is engaged 24/7/365, which requires some form of presence in order to ensure topics stay relevant, questions are answered, and content remains clean. Having a team that works around the clock, weekends, and holidays (like StrawberrySocial) ensures that you get your downtime, and the community is in good hands.

7. You’ve suddenly found yourselves in the middle of a brand reputation crisis and can’t keep up with the negative comments. When press, or a public figure shares information that tarnishes the overall reputation of a brand it can cause your official social pages to explode with negativity. Too many times the organisation will not stop and take the time to think through a proper response, and just go silent, or worse, write something up that completely negates the public’s concerns. Users flood your forums and chat spaces, demanding recognition and a response.

Outsourcing to crisis management experts allows your internal team to step away from the problem so you can discuss the best way to respond to the situation. Your StrawberrySocial team can swiftly remove the flood of negativity, report back the most vocal concerns, and work with you to develop the best methods for responding back to your community.

Most people just want to be heard. By leaning on outside support who are ready to tackle the mountain of additional responses helps to create a calmer environment.

Having a plan in place to help prepare for the unexpected changes that come with an online presence is part and parcel of social media. StrawberrySocial is an agency that specialises in brand crises, high-risk community challenges, and covering out of hours and holidays. We’re available 24/7/365; allowing your internal team their much-deserved rest times as well. Rest assured, StrawberrySocial is here to help you plan for the inevitable changes to your community. Get in touch with us here.