Open AccessLOCALIZING CONTENT MODERATION: APPROACHING THE ORIENTATIONAL SPACES OF FACEBOOK GROUP ADMINS AND MODS
Author(s) -
Scott Rodgers,
Liam McLoughlin,
Andrea Ballatore,
Susan Moore
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
selected papers of internet research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2162-3317
DOI - 10.5210/spir.v2021i0.12236
Subject(s) - moderation , context (archaeology) , social psychology , sociology , social media , theme (computing) , locality , space (punctuation) , content (measure theory) , psychology , epistemology , geography , computer science , world wide web , mathematical analysis , linguistics , philosophy , mathematics , archaeology , operating system
This paper contributes to the burgeoning literature on contentmoderation by focusing on its practice in relation to localized social media contexts, anarea which remains under-researched. It makes two key contributions. Firstly, it presentsthe results of a study on moderation practices in relation to place-named Facebook groupsacross Greater London. Drawing on in-depth interviews with administrators and moderatorsfrom 16 Facebook groups, we focus on exploring how such administrators and moderatorsnegotiate an apparent ‘orientational’ tension between ‘translocality’ and ‘locality’. On theone hand, we explore how administrators and moderators oriented partly to what might beunderstood as the 'translocal' space of Facebook as a platform. On the other hand, we alsosought to understand how such administrators and moderators orient to the localisedsituation surrounding the place-named Facebook group. Our second key contribution alignswith the conference theme on co-dependence and social media, outlining a conceptual approachfor researching the geographical contexts or ‘place’ of content moderation more broadly. Weemphasize the inherent, practical locality of content moderation. Drawing on a longtradition of relational approaches in human geography, cultural anthropology and philosophy,we conceptualize ‘locality’ as something produced through practical action, rather beingpre-given, specific geographical locations. Approaching the place or context of contentmoderation relationally, rather than via geographical scales such as local or global, mightnot only provide a more context sensitive approach, but also, underline the limits oflarge-scale moderation, whether by platforms or governments, or through human or algorithmicinterventions.