May 31, 2010 by Andy Russell
Google has decided to release a full version of its Moderator service for all YouTube users, this will allow channel owners and viewers to talk about videos and other relevant topics (or completely irrelevant ones as is often the case) on channel pages, as a more structured alternative to the standard video comments.
The YouTube blog said: “Starting today, we’ve integrated the ability to use Google Moderator into every single YouTube channel.
“Moderator is a versatile, social platform that allows you to solicit ideas or questions on any topic, and have the community vote the best ones up to the top in real-time.”
By giving channel owners the power to police offensive content, which can also be voted down by users, the Google/YouTube Moderator aims to bring some much needed order to the always chaotic and sometimes offensive world of YouTube comments.
Google Moderator was originally developed by the company’s engineer Taliver Heath as a way to prioritise questions asked during company meetings and lectures, it really came to the boil in December 2008 when it was used by the transition team of US President-Elect Barack Obama to help him respond to questions from the general public.
Generating 5.7 million votes from the public on 86,000 questions in just over a week of operation, Google Moderator was a key catalyst in the President’s appointment of Google’s project manager Katie Jacobs Stanton to the new position of Director of Citizen Participation.
As well as being a useful social tool, the Moderator feature can also be helpful for corporate YouTube channels as a way to receive and respond to user feedback. Organisations such as the New York Times are already asking users to submit their questions on the dynamic channel.
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