IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/cog/meanco/v6y2018i4p58-69.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Moral Gatekeeper? Moderation and Deletion of User-Generated Content in a Leading News Forum

Author

Listed:
  • Svenja Boberg

    (Department of Communication, University of Muenster, Germany)

  • Tim Schatto-Eckrodt

    (Department of Communication, University of Muenster, Germany)

  • Lena Frischlich

    (Department of Communication, University of Muenster, Germany)

  • Thorsten Quandt

    (Department of Communication, University of Muenster, Germany)

Abstract

Participatory formats in online journalism offer increased options for user comments to reach a mass audience, also enabling the spreading of incivility. As a result, journalists feel the need to moderate offensive user comments in order to prevent the derailment of discussion threads. However, little is known about the principles on which forum moderation is based. The current study aims to fill this void by examining 673,361 user comments (including all incoming and rejected comments) of the largest newspaper forum in Germany (Spiegel Online) in terms of the moderation decision, the topic addressed, and the use of insulting language using automated content analysis. The analyses revealed that the deletion of user comments is a frequently used moderation strategy. Overall, more than one-third of comments studied were rejected. Further, users mostly engaged with political topics. The usage of swear words was not a reason to block a comment, except when offenses were used in connection with politically sensitive topics. We discuss the results in light of the necessity for journalists to establish consistent and transparent moderation strategies.

Suggested Citation

  • Svenja Boberg & Tim Schatto-Eckrodt & Lena Frischlich & Thorsten Quandt, 2018. "The Moral Gatekeeper? Moderation and Deletion of User-Generated Content in a Leading News Forum," Media and Communication, Cogitatio Press, vol. 6(4), pages 58-69.
    • Handle: RePEc:cog:meanco:v6:y:2018:i:4:p:58-69
    DOI: 10.17645/mac.v6i4.1493
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication/article/view/1493
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.17645/mac.v6i4.1493?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:cog:meanco:v6:y:2018:i:4:p:58-69. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: António Vieira or IT Department (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.cogitatiopress.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.