Barriers to Inclusion and Retention: The Role of Community Management and Moderation

Key insights

7 takeaways

01
As noted in the whitepaper for the September 2015 event, many organizations do not moderate their channels, which conveys the message that all speech ought to be allowed in the space.See it on page 1
02
The authors argue that chat should not be written off, since it offers paths into participation, fandom expression and knowledge sharing.See it on page 1
03
Chat is often under-moderated or not moderated at all, and attention is given only to coarse metrics rather than meaningful assessment of user experience.See it on page 1
04
The document states that bots can take over moderation tasks at scale, but technological choices are also social choices that require judgement.See it on page 2
05
Participants pushed to expand moderation toward encouraging positive behaviour, including modelling behaviour and rewarding those who improve the community, while punitive measures remain needed.See it on page 2
06
Most of the esports space relies on volunteer fan labour for community management, which the document says requires organizations to take accountability and better train and support these volunteers.See it on page 2
07
The authors argue that structuring competitions into experience levels can let newcomers participate while keeping high-end competitive matches.See it on page 3

Summary

This whitepaper summarises an AnyKey workshop held in April 2016 on barriers to inclusion and retention in esports, focused on community management and moderation. AnyKey workshops are private day-long sessions of 10-12 stakeholders that aim to identify key areas within a thematic framework and brainstorm interventions that stakeholders can develop in their local contexts. The workshop built on a September 2015 theme about harassment, looking for models and strategies to address it. A public live-streamed panel at PAX East followed, titled "Competition for all: Building inclusive esports communities."

The document identifies live-stream chat as a space with serious harassment and abuse issues that need urgent attention, while noting that many organizations under-moderate chat or assess it only with coarse metrics. It argues that chat offers valuable paths into participation and community, and that more data is needed on how chat quality relates to viewership and product perceptions. Technology such as chat bots is described as a key moderation tool, with the authors noting that technological choices are also social choices.

The discussion also favours preventative approaches, such as modelling behaviour and rewarding positive contributions, alongside punitive measures. It notes that most esports spaces rely on volunteer fan labour for moderation, and calls for better training and support for moderators, including on mental health and diversity awareness.