The LinkedIn Blog

New and improved moderation features for LinkedIn Groups

Posted: 13 Aug 2010 02:18 PM PDT

Since its roll out at the end of June, the new groups interface has already significantly increased member participation, measured by user comments and visits to Groups. We've also been listening to user feedback from many of our active groups on LinkedIn. In the spirit of continuous improvement, we're excited to present the first set of improvements to how Groups can be moderated that we’ve incorporated after hearing from you.

1. Delete threads directly. One of the biggest concerns group managers have had is around spam and how best to manage it effectively. Starting this week, we've made it very easy for moderators to actively fight spam by deleting inappropriate content from the “More” tab on any LinkedIn groups’ thread.

2. Set up email notifications for new LinkedIn groups posts. If you want to clean out spam the minute it's posted, as a group manager you can now get email alerts for every new post and delete spam straight from these emails. Subscribe to these alerts by going to More > My Settings > Activity and check the box "Send me an email for each new discussion."

3. Delete inappropriate posts right from your email updates. We're also making it easier than ever for group moderators to delete inappropriate posts with one-click right from the email alerts of the discussions you follow in your group. In a coming release, managers and moderators can also remove, block, and delete not just one email thread but all contributions of the offending spammer right from these emails.

4. Find and encourage group members to help you moderate. You don't have to take on the work of moderating your group alone. Deputize trusted members to help moderate so they can utilize all the great moderation features too.

5. Encourage your members to flag inappropriate content. We also wanted to make it easier for all members of your group to help you weed out spam and inappropriate content. All posts and comments flagged as inappropriate by group members will be added to the group managers’ new moderation queue. In one swift move, you can delete or clear flags from posts as well as blacklist spammers with the powerful "remove member, block & delete contributions" button.

6. Automatically delete posts by setting a limit on the number of flags. You can also automate the process of bringing down spam in the queue by defining the number of flags a post or comment needs to reach before it gets automatically deleted (like magic!). The default is 10, and you can adjust this setting to a higher or lower number as needed in Manage > Edit Group Settings.

This is just the first in a series of improvements we've planned for Groups to improve the quality of your conversations, by giving both moderators and group members a way to easily manage it.

We look forward to hearing your feedback, so please feel free to leave a comment or @linkedin us on Twitter.

Filed under: Groups