Latest Articles

Rough Guide to: In-Game Advertising

In-Game Advertising offers marketers a cost-effective way to specifically target key audiences, industry players claim. New Media Knowledge talked to one in-game advertising network to see how businesses can deploy and benefit from the technology.

more

Alexander McCall-Smith Engages Web 2.0

The Daily Telegraph is in the middle of a 20-week serialisation of an online book created by author Alexander McCall-Smith, his first such project. New Media Knowledge caught up with the organisers to discuss ‘Corduroy Mansions’.

more

Business Brief: Video Advertising Looks to Future

Google has announced it will incentivise advertisers on its video properties as well as launching research programmes into how Web users consume Internet video material. New Media Knowledge spoke to a number of industry players to gauge their views on where the video advertising market is going.

more

• ‘Virtual Home’ for Ex-Pats in London Established
• Rough Guide to: Social Media and the Law
• Record Visits for UK Blog Sites
• Clearing Congestion
• Rough Guide to: Pay-Per-Click Advertising
• Opinion: What Happens to Newspapers?
• LinkedIn Adds Business Applications

Related Articles

• FOWA: Building a Community

  Matthew Haughey of Metafilter talked about the lessons he'd learned about looking after online communities through running the site since it was founded in 1999. The site started as a fairly simple, multi-user weblog where bloggers could trade links. Today, it has developed into a location with 4mn visitors a month, serving 12mn pages. more

• Better Moderation Seminar

  The seminar will be structured to provide three formal sessions covering key aspects of the topic followed by a less formal ‘clinic’ session in which attendees can ask about issues that are affecting or might affect their own community and user-generated content sites. We’ve drawn together three experts in online communities to provide the best information available on the topic. more

Moderation, That's What You Need

Professional moderation is the only way to counter parents' fears about the dangers of chat rooms, argues Dominic Sparkes.

Professional moderation is the only way to counter parents' fears about the dangers of chat rooms, argues Dominic Sparkes, co-founder of Tempero (www.tempero.co.uk)

Recently, Internet chat rooms have been attacked for the potential risk they pose to our children and the possible opportunity for misuse they provide. It is easy to understand the media frenzy that surrounds chat rooms: several high-profile cases of adults using the Internet to form inappropriate and abusive relationships with minors have alerted everyone to the potential dangers, and prompted some companies, such as MSN, to close down their chat operations altogether.

Young people love chat rooms, however, and it would be a shame if the actions of a small, dangerous minority were allowed to spoil the enjoyment of the innocent many. Responsible companies and organisations still wish to allow their young users to chat and interact online, but are now very much aware of the importance of providing a safe and secure environment in which they can do so. Automated technology can help, but to be absolutely certain that chat room users are legitimate and behaving themselves, it's necessary to employ moderators to keep an eye on things. Larger organisations often develop this capability in-house, but increasingly the task is being outsourced to moderation companies.

John Carr, Internet Consultant to NCH Action for Children says, "Moderation for some companies means running a software program in the background that simply blocks out certain words. For others, it means having a properly trained and supervised adult moderator present. There's a big difference between the two. Children learn quickly how to get around systems, so it's imperative that chat room providers start employing skilled moderators to help provide an additional level of protection."

Jasmine Malik, the founder of moderation company Tempero says, "Online safety is something that we all need to take responsibility for - from the providers of chat rooms to moderation companies like us. We need to ensure that parents are made fully aware of the levels of protection that are out there so they can make informed judgements about which websites their children can visit safely."

Malik, who is also working on one of the groups within The Home Office Task Force on Internet Safety, adds, "We mustn't assume that children are as savvy when using chat rooms as they would be about talking to strangers in the street - so it's important that extra protection is provided through human moderation and technology. Try to ensure you monitor your child's internet activity and if your children are using chat rooms, encourage them to use those that are moderated by professional companies. Many chat rooms also empower users by giving them the ability to report problems immediately and mute users they choose not to talk to".

Malik's advice is echoed by Jonathan Webb, Controller of Trouble & Challenge, at Flextech Television. "All of Flextech's chat services have an appropriate level of moderation, as user safety is a big concern. We have also switched off all private messaging and built in an instant alert function to allow users to directly contact a moderator at any time," he says.

Properly managed online communities do exist and can provide a hugely beneficial and safe learning and entertainment environment for everyone, particularly children. Many ISP's are working to protect users through walled-garden services and incorporating parent approved registration systems such as AOL. Telewest Broadband, for example, has a strategic partnership with Childnet International to educate its blueyonder customers about protecting young people online, while making the most of broadband internet access. In addition, the government is working with companies to create guidelines and policies for chat rooms that will help parents make informed decisions about where their children visit.

It makes sense in 'corporate social responsibility' terms for companies to take heed of parents' safety concerns, but it could also be commercially advantageous. McKinsey's 2002 paper, 'The Case for Online Communities' states that people who use community features on commercial websites generate two-thirds of all sales revenue, despite accounting for just one-third of the site's traffic. In order for this pattern to be sustainable these sites have an obligation to protect their users and, by extension, their brands.