I came to this topic through my recent online experience with an unrepentant chicken: offshore content moderation.
What's that, you ask?
Well, like many other service industries nowadays, the person you complain to about the content of a message board post may be sitting in one of the countries that Forbes once cited as the"best countries for outsourcing": India, the Philipines, Russia, China, Canada, Mexico or Ireland.
What has this got to do with that no-show, keyboard-warrior chicken?
Nothing directly.
Indirectly, it may have everything to do with the anything-goes discourse over there, where every Community Rule is regularly violated, seemingly without consequences for even the worst offenders. I am told by a reliable source that nj.com outsources their forum comment moderation- to a country in Asia.
The notion that the person weighing whether you've been libeled, harassed, are a victim or victimizer, may not speak English as a first language, and is certainly not as deft at idiomatic American-speak, and nuanced American cultural references as they should be for this type of work, came as a surprise.
It took 2 minutes of Googling to find a Manila-based company called MicoSourcing, that promises the offshore staffing capability for any size internet project as shown on their interactive "outsourcing wizard":
And Content Moderation Outsourcing is one of their services.
Now, why would an American company employ the services of an offshore company for something like message board moderation? (rhetorical question).
Have a look at their pricing schedule for the range of positions they will staff for you. Note these are monthly fees which are all-inclusive: salary, benefits and management costs.
It's a very old story, but seeing this bargain-basement 'fee schedule' crystallizes the sad state of American jobs in the technology services industry that have been sucked overseas. And continue to be. Where else could a business find a Senior Web Developer at a cost of $675/week, with no benefits or overhead costs?
Back to our local forum. Assuming that what goes for 'moderation' is being outsourced, the question is: is it working?
My answer: a resounding NO.
It sucks. Serial harassers, multiple-posting political ops, and SPAMMERs are running the place, chasing away decent folk who would otherwise like to participate, targeting those for harassment whom they disagree with or don't like.
My message to companies who want an online community but do it on-the-cheap, and are running this kind of failed operation: FIX IT.
It's not MY JOB to tell you how.
Depending on users to police message boards is a cop-out and doesn't work. If you WANT a community message board, then do it PROPERLY. If you have rules, enforce them. For repeat offenders, IP blocking would be a simple way to permanently expel malicious users and keyboard chickens, who otherwise would return under a different screen name. And do.
How hard is it to block an IP address? Just ask H411's proprietor.
What's that, you ask?
Well, like many other service industries nowadays, the person you complain to about the content of a message board post may be sitting in one of the countries that Forbes once cited as the"best countries for outsourcing": India, the Philipines, Russia, China, Canada, Mexico or Ireland.
What has this got to do with that no-show, keyboard-warrior chicken?
Nothing directly.
Indirectly, it may have everything to do with the anything-goes discourse over there, where every Community Rule is regularly violated, seemingly without consequences for even the worst offenders. I am told by a reliable source that nj.com outsources their forum comment moderation- to a country in Asia.
The notion that the person weighing whether you've been libeled, harassed, are a victim or victimizer, may not speak English as a first language, and is certainly not as deft at idiomatic American-speak, and nuanced American cultural references as they should be for this type of work, came as a surprise.
It took 2 minutes of Googling to find a Manila-based company called MicoSourcing, that promises the offshore staffing capability for any size internet project as shown on their interactive "outsourcing wizard":
click any graphic to enlarge
And Content Moderation Outsourcing is one of their services.
Now, why would an American company employ the services of an offshore company for something like message board moderation? (rhetorical question).Have a look at their pricing schedule for the range of positions they will staff for you. Note these are monthly fees which are all-inclusive: salary, benefits and management costs.
It's a very old story, but seeing this bargain-basement 'fee schedule' crystallizes the sad state of American jobs in the technology services industry that have been sucked overseas. And continue to be. Where else could a business find a Senior Web Developer at a cost of $675/week, with no benefits or overhead costs?
Back to our local forum. Assuming that what goes for 'moderation' is being outsourced, the question is: is it working?
My answer: a resounding NO.
It sucks. Serial harassers, multiple-posting political ops, and SPAMMERs are running the place, chasing away decent folk who would otherwise like to participate, targeting those for harassment whom they disagree with or don't like.
My message to companies who want an online community but do it on-the-cheap, and are running this kind of failed operation: FIX IT.
It's not MY JOB to tell you how.
Depending on users to police message boards is a cop-out and doesn't work. If you WANT a community message board, then do it PROPERLY. If you have rules, enforce them. For repeat offenders, IP blocking would be a simple way to permanently expel malicious users and keyboard chickens, who otherwise would return under a different screen name. And do.
How hard is it to block an IP address? Just ask H411's proprietor.
It's pretty much for those reasons listed above I refuse to dive into the cesspool that is the NJ.com forums. I'd rather play in a sandbox that doesn't have cat droppings in it.
ReplyDeleteAny chance you can find that chicken and the rest of his clutch an off-shore job or better yet an off-planet job?
ReplyDeleteBriefly reviewing MicroSources info., I find the notion of "Virtual Captives" especially comforting. Don't you?
ReplyDeleteThe Philippines have been waiting to 'happen' for a few years. Western in outlook, english-speaking, few man-made or natural dangers. Infrastructure will get there. My former employer made a huge investment there a year ago. And the rest of Wall St. moves in lock-step into 'new neighborhoods'. They have felt over-exposed in Mumbai and Bangalore for a while. 'Geographic diversity' and all that.
ReplyDeleteWanna make some $$? Invest in the local telecoms.
If nj.com outsourced their forum content moderation to Canada you know it would be the politest forum on the web. Canadians have no tolerance for garbage on the street or online. Of course you might end-up with no posters....
ReplyDelete