“Crowds can be wise, but they can also be destructive” – Annalee Newitz on social media censorship at Web 2.0 Expo | Pathfinder Development | Software Developers | Blogs

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“Crowds can be wise, but they can also be destructive” – Annalee Newitz on social media censorship at Web 2.0 Expo

Brian Dillard, Thursday, April 24, 2008 @ 7:29 pm

Given my previously professed obsession with sci-fi blog io9, I had to check out the Web 2.0 Expo session hosted by its editrix, Annalee Newitz. User Generated Censorship tackled the ways in which community policing and content flagging can damage the value of social networks.

Using case studies from Blogger, Flickr, YouTube, Digg and Wikipedia, Newitz explored the various ways in which user-generated content can be flagged by community members and summarily banished to the void. She harshed on services - Blogger, Flickr, Digg - with poor transparency into their processes and insufficient recourse for those flagged. She also showed the love to services - Wikipedia, YouTube - with more complex, detailed and "byzantine" rules for flagging content.

Her logic? Such complex rules force would-be community censors to get specific about why they're flagging particular items. Wikipedia, for instance, offers seven different directives for its content. To flag content for removal, users must cite the specific directives that have been violated. Lots of discussion ensues.

Newitz's advice for those creating social platforms and user-generated content networks? Offer users clear content guidelines and an easy way for them to filter the content they don't want to see. Offer authors transparent and fast methods of redress when they feel they've been unfairly flagged.

Her closing remark: "We need to protect against the mania of crowds" as well as celebrating their wisdom.

Related posts:

Topics: Social Networking

Comments (2)

Software Development

Software Development

Comments: 2 so far

Sounds like a very interesting talk. Personally, I am working on a Digg-like site and so, I am looking for advice on implementing a flagging system. Is there any way that I can get hold of these sildes? Thanks.

Comment by Abi, Saturday, April 26, 2008 @ 6:38 pm
@Abi:

I’d contact Annalee directly via her site:

http://www.techsploitation.com/tech/

Comment by Brian Dillard, Monday, April 28, 2008 @ 10:30 am

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