Carla Mooney - Getting Paid to Moderate Websites

As companies design and develop new mobile internet devices, people will have new ways to go online at any time, from anywhere in the world.

Although website moderation can be done from anywhere in the world, some moderation jobs may be moved to countries with lower wages, which will decrease job growth in the United States. However, the work of a website moderator often relies on a knowledge of cultural nuances in order to interact and communicate effectively with users. This favors the hiring of American moderators and limits the ability of this job to be moved to workers in other countries.

Moderating Algorithm

Algorithmia, a company that works with algorithms, hopes to use one of its programs to moderate websites in the future. An algorithm is a set of steps to complete a task. A computer algorithm uses specific tasks or processes that need to be completed in a specific order. In 2015, Algorithmia introduced a new algorithm to find nudity in pictures. Users submit a photo on the companys website ( isitnude.com ) and the algorithm reviews the image and determines if there is any nudity in it. The company developed the algorithm for a client who wanted to be able to screen images for a kidfriendly website and make sure they were not pornographic. Kenny Daniel, the companys chief technical officer, says that the company took some existing image recognition software and combined it to create the naked-identifying code. Wed done quite a bit of work on image recognition, Daniel said in a June 2015 interview that appeared on Wired. com. One of our engineers took some algorithms off the shelf, things like image detection, skin color detection, and then put them together.

The company admits that the current version of the algorithm is raw and needs to be refined. At present, it cannot recognize individual body parts. In addition, innocent beach photos might get flagged. And because it uses skin tone to identify nakedness, the algorithm does not work on black and white photos. Yet even with its current limits, Algorithmias ultimate goal is to develop a system that can operate without human help.

RELATED CAREER: WEBSITE DEVELOPER

People who work as website moderators can use their existing skill set as a base to move into several related careers. Almost every company and organization today has a website. Customers visit a companys website to learn more about products, find store locations, and buy products online. Designing a website that is creative and attractive to customers is the job of web developers. A website developer creates the layout, color scheme, and general design of a website. He or she creates specialized, eye-catching websites for a variety of clients. Because every organization is different, web developers work with each client to create an individual design that appeals to customers. After the site is built, they regularly adjust and add updates to the site. In some cases, web developers also create content for the website. They are also responsible for the sites technical aspects, including its performance (speed) and capacity (traffic). They might work for a company or organization directly. They might also be hired independently.

A website developer works at his computer to build a new and engaging website for a client. Some website moderators also perform web development work.

Some web developers build an entire website from start to finish. Others specialize in a particular area of web development. Back-end web developers work on the technical construction of the site. They create the sites framework and make sure that it works as designed. They also add procedures for others to add pages and content in the future. Front-end developers focus on a websites appearance. They design the layout, integrate graphics, and other content. Once a website is live, webmasters maintain and update the sites. They monitor the site to make sure everything is working properly and respond to user comments and questions.

Website moderators who know how to use HTML, Adobe Photoshop, Java, Macromedia Flash, and other web software and have taken classes in web design or development will have opportunities to work in web development. In addition, the communication skills learned as a website moderator will be needed as a web developer to deal effectively with clients.

SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER

Social media is quickly becoming an important platform for companies to interact with customers. On Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, customers discuss companies and their brands. Loyal customers can become advocates for a company. On the flip side, an unsatisfied customer can tweet to the world about his or her negative experience with the company. Companies are also learning about what their customers want, building relationships, and getting ideas for product improvement through social media.

As social media increases in popularity and more platforms are introduced, social media managers will be needed to monitor and maintain a companys presence on social media. For people with website moderating experience and skills, the jump to becoming a social media manager should be an easy one.

Social media managers are responsible for promoting and protecting a companys brand on social media. In this role, they create content such as tweets, pictures posted on Instagram, or a Pinterest board of company products. They also respond to customer comments and answer questions. Most of the time, a social media manager deals with people who already have a relationship with a company and its products or at least have heard of the brand.

Brit Thompson is a social media manager at Sprout Social, a social media management company. She spends her day interacting with her clients customers, making sure that they have a positive experience with the brands. In a typical day, she responds to and helps customers, writes or creates social media content, analyzes her clients social media performance, and meets with her team to talk about strategy and next steps. Many of these tasks are similar to those performed by website moderators, making them easily able to transition to this type of job in the future.