This course covers relevant tools and strategies for effective community moderation, including setting up rules and disclaimers, using automated filters, and understanding the importance of privacy policies and terms of service.
TOPICS
✅ Community Moderation
Even with all these security measures in place, rule-breakers still slip through the cracks from time to time. Your moderators can’t always be around to detect misbehavior, which is where Returning.AI’s automated content moderation tools come into play.
There are three distinct forms of content moderation you can utilize to keep your community safe.
- Profanity Filter
- Banned Words
- Alert Words
Profanity Filter
Returning.AI’s profanity filter contains a default list of rated words that are automatically flagged and filtered out of your community. When turned on, if a message contains profanity, it will be blocked from being sent, and the member will see a customizable warning message explaining why their message was not delivered.
Returning.AI has a generalized profanity list, which may include only some of the words you’d like to keep out of your community. We recommend manually adding or removing words from the default list to ensure that your filter aligns with your community’s specific needs and values. This ensures that you effectively block any language you find inappropriate while avoiding unnecessary restrictions.
Customize your warning message to adequately inform offending members of why their message has been blocked. For example, you could use a message like, “Your message was not sent because it contains language that violates our community guidelines. Please review the rules and adjust your message accordingly.” Customizing the warning allows you to maintain a professional tone and reinforce your community’s values while addressing the issue automatically without a moderator’s input.
Banned Words
Similar to the Profanity Filter, Banned Words allow you to restrict specific terms within your community that may not necessarily be profanities or rated language. By entering a list of banned words in your settings, any message containing these terms will be blocked from being sent.
Banned Words uses a separate, customizable warning message distinct from the Profanity Filter. This allows you to clearly explain to members why the word is restricted, even if it isn’t offensive in a traditional sense. Unlike profanities, the rationale for banning some words may not be immediately apparent, so clear communication ensures transparency and supports a respectful community environment.
Examples of words that could be added to your banned words list are competitor names like “BrandX”, “BrandY”, “BrandZ”, with an attached warning message that reads “Mentions of competitor names are not allowed in this community to keep discussions focused. Please avoid referencing other brands directly.”
Configure your banned words in a way that best suits your community.
Alert Words
Alert Words are words that are monitored within your community. Community members aren’t alerted to the fact that they’ve used an alert word, and messages containing alert words can be sent without issue. However, each time an alert word is detected in a message, a copy of that message will be automatically sent to a channel of your choosing. We recommend creating a private channel only accessible to your moderators or support team to serve as your alert word log.
In practice, alert words can be used to automatically monitor sensitive topics, identify potential issues, or stay informed about specific discussions within your community. For example, you might set up alert words to track mentions of your brand name, competitor names, or flagged terms like “scam” or “fraud” to catch potential problems early. This feature allows you to keep tabs on critical conversations discreetly and respond proactively, ensuring the community remains a safe and well-regulated space.
Keep Rule Breakers Out
With all your security measures in place, you can ensure that your community is protected through automated moderation. However, handling offending members still requires the attention of your moderators. By accessing the user list, you can:
Warn Users
Issue a warning to inform offenders of their actions and the consequences if they re-offend. Notifications of warnings will be sent to the user, and there’s no limit on the number of warnings that can be given. Multiple warnings can be issued as needed.
Suspend Users
Temporarily suspend an offender’s access to prevent them from viewing or communicating in channels. This is a more severe punishment than a warning but short of a ban. Suspensions last for a set period, and users attempting to access the community during this time will see a suspension message. These can be manually extended or revoked as needed.
Ban Users
Permanently ban an offender from the community, which blocks them from accessing it indefinitely. Bans can be revoked at any time if needed.
Related Courses
Getting Started with Returning.AI
This course is aimed towards beginners who are unfamiliar with Returning.AI and its features.
Boosting Social Media Engagement
Learn to utilize Returning.AI’s social media integrations to grow your social media presence.
Efficient Webhook Workflows
Discover how Returning.AI can elevate your community. Description should be 3 lines exactly.
It's time to slash churn and increase expansion revenue
Book a no-obligations chat with our Founder, Desmond Leong