Why Outsourcing is the Key to Building a World-Class Moderation Team

Based on our experience recruiting, onboarding, and training moderators across multiple projects, these are the essential — and sometimes surprising — skills that form a world-class moderation team.

• Fluency in Internet Language: Language on the internet evolves quickly. Moderators must be fluent in online slang and pop culture to interpret messages, recognise subtle harassment, and engage with the community effectively. Without this, they may miss crucial context for effective moderation.
• Geopolitical Awareness: Online games attract players from diverse cultural and political backgrounds. Moderators must be aware of geopolitical events to understand how they may impact player interactions. What seems harmless to one player might offend another, so this awareness ensures sensitive and informed moderation.
• Cultural Sensitivity: Moderators need a strong understanding of various cultures, norms, and trends. What’s acceptable in one culture may be offensive in another. Being culturally informed helps moderators ensure the community is inclusive and respectful to all players.
• Immersion in Your Platform: Moderators are the key to understanding your community’s lingo, norms, and culture. This knowledge empowers them to make more informed moderation decisions and provide valuable insights to stakeholders.
• Empathy and Compassion: Moderation is a human task that requires empathy and compassion. Technology can and should assist, but it cannot replace the human ability to recognise when someone is having a bad day versus intentionally disrupting the community. Empathy is essential for maintaining a positive atmosphere.
• Analytical Thinking and Decision-Making: Moderation demands quick, accurate, unbiased decision-making. Moderators must quickly assess situations, understand context, recognise and set aside their personal bias — all within the span of a few seconds. Strong analytical skills are essential for identifying behavior patterns and applying effective strategies to prevent situations from escalating.
• Psychological Resilience: Moderators are often exposed to harmful content that can take a toll on their mental health. This makes psychological resiliency a critical skill for anyone in the role. It’s essential not only to prepare moderators in advance for the types of content they may encounter but also equip them with the tools to support their wellbeing.

Addressing the Unique Challenges of Hiring Moderation Teams

In addition to finding moderators with the right skillset, you’ll need to address several other factors when building a high-performing moderation team. This team won't just protect your community from harmful content; it will also provide valuable engagement data to inform executive decision-making and help your community thrive.

Consider these key challenges when deciding whether to build an in-house moderation team or outsource to a third-party vendor:

• Recruitment and Hiring. Finding talented moderators is challenging. It requires specialised knowledge to source, interview, and assess candidates for their analytical and language skills.
• Multiple Languages. Online communities are global, and effective moderation requires multilingual moderators who can handle diverse cultural and language nuances.
• 24/7 Coverage. The internet never sleeps. Maintaining round-the-clock moderation requires operational capacity to hire and manage a team across multiple time zones.
• Training Programs. A comprehensive onboarding and continuous training program is essential. You will need internal expertise and resources to ensure moderators stay updated on evolving community trends, regulations, and best practices.
• Wellbeing Program. Without proper support, moderators may experience burnout or develop long-term psychological issues, like vicarious trauma and compassion fatigue. It’s important to note that there have been class-action suits filed against organisations that did not sufficiently protect their moderators from harm. This requires expertise and resources to develop a tailored well-being program that protects and supports moderators’ mental health, increases productivity and enhances decision-making.

In-House Moderation vs Outsourcing: The Case for Keywords Studios 

Deciding whether to build an in-house moderation team or outsource is a critical decision for any platform. As you weigh your options, ask yourself:

• Are you operationally equipped to recruit and hire moderators with diverse skills, cultural backgrounds, and language proficiency across multiple time zones?
• Do you have the resources to develop an ongoing training program that keeps moderators up to date on evolving regulations, decision-making frameworks, and bias mitigation?
• Does your organisation have the expertise to design a well-being program tailored to the unique challenges of moderation work?

If you answered "no" to any of these questions, it may be time to consider outsourcing.

At Keywords Studios, we've built our Trust & Safety services from the ground up, featuring a customised in-house assessment along with comprehensive onboarding, training, and wellbeing programs for our superhero moderation teams. With studios across the globe, we can ensure seamless 24/7 coverage in multiple languages, supporting your platform around the clock.

With a proven track record of helping video game platforms thrive, we’re more than just a service provider — we’re a true partner. By outsourcing to us, you can focus on what you do best: building an incredible platform that delights your players.