If you are active on social media, chances are you’ve seen videos that are either inappropriate or that you find offensive on Facebook or YouTube. The first question that comes to mind is, “How has this not been flagged and taken down?” Facebook and YouTube have responded. It’s one of the trending social media stories in the news this week.
Facebook Releases Community Standards
For the first time in its history, Facebook has released its new community standards, guidelines that explain what objectionable content is.
It broke the bad content into six categories:
- Violence and Criminal Behavior
- Safety
- Objectionable Content
- Integrity and Authenticity
- Respecting Intellectual Property
- Content-Related Requests
If you’d like to read more about what isn’t allowed on the platform, you can read more about it on Facebook’s site.
What do you think of these guidelines?
YouTube Uses AI to Crack Down on Offensive Content
Unlike Facebook, which uses only human moderators for evaluating reported content, YouTube has relied heavily on Artificial Intelligence (AI) to police content that violates its policies. In the last quarter of 2017, the platform removed 8 million videos with 76% of them being removed without a single view using AI.
Only 17% of the now-deleted videos were actually flagged by humans, so it’s safe to say that YouTube will continue to work with AI in removing inappropriate content.
Have you seen offensive content on YouTube or is the AI working its magic? If you have seen content that shouldn’t be on the platform, do you report it?
Snapchat’s Six-Second Unskippable Ads
Let’s face it – Snapchat has never been on the top of many advertisers list when it comes to getting a bang for your buck, but that doesn’t mean that the platform can’t keep trying. Snapchat’s latest attempt to attract more advertisers is in its new six-second unskippable ads it is calling “commercials” (original, we know!).
This test is coming at a time where the platform received a lot scrutiny over its redesign keeping users and brands’ stories separate. Snapchat is taking a leap of faith in the idea that currently their target audience (18-24-year-olds) already has a habit of watching ads in order to watch videos for free, and will work with established TV companies for three to five-minute videos and include these unskippable ads. Is this a wise decision for the platform? We will just have to see.
To stay up-to-date on these trends and more, follow Katie Wagner Social Media on Facebook!
