Livestream Comment Settings
Settings that give users the ability to filter and customize how they see comments within the application.
How Does This Mitigate Hate?
Giving users the ability to carefully customize their experience on social platforms, whether user name, profile information or comments—allows people to be selective with who they share information with and how that information is presented to each user. On social platforms, a majority of reported incidents have consistently come from the comments section. Platforms that allow more customization, filtering and a more personalized experience in showing comments can help change the landscape by filtering out hate and harassment based on user preferences.
When to use it?
Comment preferences should be presented upon registration, account creation, and should be configurable throughout the account’s existence.
How does it work?
Comment setting personalization should incorporate the following aspects to allow flexibility to users who may need more customization and control of content. Algorithms in place can help to facilitate the following setting options to help protect new users and previously targeted groups or persons.
Keyword hiding and muting within comments.
General safety settings for comments; i.e. only show safe comments during the live stream.
Privacy settings that include who can see comments made on the user’s content.
Advantages
Proactive comment filtering can give users peace of mind and mitigate potential targeting and harassment.
Comment settings in livestreams gives users leverage to control the environment of streams.
Disadvantages
Offenders can game the system, once they understand how filters work, they may alter their comments after being prompted to make a change in order to get the hateful message through in a different form.
Algorithms will need to learn from hateful instances and reporting to improve their auto-filtering.
Examples
YouTube offers granular controls as well as automated moderation tools for livestreams. (screenshots taken August 2021)
You Tube channel creators have several options for managing live chat and comments. (screenshot taken May 2022)
References
Anti-Defamation League. “How Platforms Can Stem Abuses of Livestreaming after the Storming of the Capitol,” January 15, 2021. https://www.adl.org/blog/how-platforms-can-stem-abuses-of-livestreaming-after-the-storming-of-the-capitol.
Pardes, Arielle. “To Clean up Comments, Let AI Tell Users Their Words Are Trash.” Wired, September 22, 2020. https://www.wired.com/story/comments-section-clean-up-let-ai-tell-users-words-trash/.
Sultan, Ahmad. “Livestreaming Hate: Problem Solving through Better Design.” Anti-Defamation League, May 13, 2019. https://www.adl.org/news/article/livestreaming-hate-problem-solving-through-better-design.