Photo and Video Moderation - any tips?

[Anna Raddatz]

I am considering adding photos and videos to my site. But I'm concerned that people will upload irrelevant photos/videos, clouding the experience for other members/visitors. So I'm wondering about doing photo/video moderation.

So my questions for those who have had photo/video features for a while are:

1. Does it really matter if people upload irrelevant stuff (as long as it's not, you know, porn)? As an example, my site is focused on NYC, and some people join just to promote their non-NYC-focused albums, books, events, etc. Do I let that slide? Do the irrelevant posts fall away, based on lack of popularity? Or does the variety of content actually help boost visitorship?

2. What pitfalls have you found with moderation? Is it too time consuming? Is it too difficult to judge what IS relevant? Do people post fewer photos/videos because they don't get the instant gratification of seeing it on the site immediately?

Any guidance would be very helpful!

Thanks!
Anna

[Garfield Creator]

It may help to have a system set up in advance. On one of my networks I have a tagging system and have specific rules for tagging content. If the member is a paying member we offer to tag it for them and use our admins to help with that. If they are not a paying member we ask that they tag it according to our rules and if they don't that they should not expect a quick turnaround on getting their content approved.

It makes sense to include this kind of price based levels since photos and video are cost intensive and if you want to your network to be sustainable you should get help from those who directly impact the cost of running the network.

Setting up a system helps with the organization of content on the site as we can then feature certain content based on tags. Sometimes it is not so much that irrelevant content gets through but what are you as a creator doing to showcase the content that is relevant by either featuring or tagging. I also set limits on how much content can be uploaded by those members who are not paying members. What eventually gets uploaded is probably thought about a lot more since it is limited.

[Anna Raddatz]

Thanks, John and Garfield, for your great feedback! Sounds like moderating is the way to go, and I'll have to think some more about a tagging system.

As for the storage and bandwidth, I was hoping that there would be a way to ONLY allow embedded videos (as opposed to hosting uploaded videos) but that doesn't seem to be the case - correct?

Garfield, since you have limits per member, how do you keep track of who has used what?

[Anna Raddatz]

Ah, actually it occurs to me that with the new pricing plan, only the top level will even allow video uploads; both Mini and Plus will only allow embeds. Since I was planning to go with Plus, that should solve my embed vs. upload problem!

[Garfield Creator]

Real simple - there is a count in the left sidebar for the profile of the user. When you have to approve a member's content their profile link is right there. You are one click away from viewing their profile and seeing how many videos and or photos they have uploaded thus far. Now I know, this can get tedious,

If you want to do this a little faster you can create a listing of all your members and enter the amounts next to their names for that moment in time and you can use that to refer to. If there is a threshold amount so it will basically be a yes or no process when debating whether their content should be approved or not.

[Anna Raddatz]

Good to know, thanks!

[Anna Raddatz]

Great points about recent activity and copyright issues. Will definitely keep these in mind!