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A Novel Tool for Online Community Moderator Evaluation

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HCI International 2020 – Late Breaking Papers: Interaction, Knowledge and Social Media (HCII 2020)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNISA,volume 12427))

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Abstract

This study introduces a new instrument for leadership evaluation in online forums and other online communities which was developed using a grounded approach. Questions that emerged from the literature were then evaluated to create hypotheses that guided the development of an instrument for moderator evaluation. The Moderator Evaluation Contingency Scale (MECS) is modified from Fiedler’s contingency model to determine if a moderator is more task- or relationship-oriented in his or her approach to moderation and interactions with other members of a community. The MECS was developed and tested on Reddit in 2013–2014 using random sampling for Forum selection, moderator selection, and interactions with users. A content analysis using the MECS to evaluate posts was found to be a viable measure of a moderator’s ability to perform tasks like removing content as well as his or her ability to interact with users. Bots were analyzed using the MECS as well to determine bias. Next steps include making the instrument available for use by social media and niche community sites, administrators, and other moderators.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Hawai‘i at Hilo, Hilo, USA

    Alicia J. W. Takaoka

  2. University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, Honolulu, USA

    Alicia J. W. Takaoka

Authors
  1. Alicia J. W. Takaoka
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Correspondence to Alicia J. W. Takaoka .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Crete and Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas (FORTH), Heraklion, Crete, Greece

    Constantine Stephanidis

  2. University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, USA

    Gavriel Salvendy

  3. University of West Florida, Pensacola, FL, USA

    June Wei

  4. Tokyo University of Science, Tokyo, Japan

    Sakae Yamamoto

  5. Tokyo City University, Tokyo, Japan

    Hirohiko Mori

  6. Towson University, Towson, MD, USA

    Gabriele Meiselwitz

  7. Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla, MO, USA

    Fiona Fui-Hoon Nah

  8. Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla, MO, USA

    Keng Siau

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Takaoka, A.J.W. (2020). A Novel Tool for Online Community Moderator Evaluation. In: Stephanidis, C., et al. HCI International 2020 – Late Breaking Papers: Interaction, Knowledge and Social Media. HCII 2020. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 12427. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-60152-2_34

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-60152-2_34

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-60151-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-60152-2

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