CollinsFacebook is releasing a set of new tools to assist group administrators in managing their groups. Some merely provide a clearer view of posts and members, while others are intended to assist administrators in resolving disputes, such as an AI-powered function that Facebook claims can detect “contentious or unhealthy conversations” in the comments.
Conflict Alerts is the name of the program, and Facebook claims it’s only testing it for now, so it’s not available now. It’s similar to the existing Keywords Alerts function, which allows admins to set custom alerts for when commentators use specific words and phrases, but it use machine learning algorithms to detect more subtle types of issues. After an admin has been notified, they can delete comments, ban users from a group, limit the number of times individuals can comment, or limit the number of times comments can be posted on specific topics.
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However, it’s unclear how the function will detect “contentious or unhealthy interactions,” and when contacted for comment, Facebook provided no further information. Only that the firm would employ machine learning models to look at “various signs like as reply time and comment volume to assess if user participation has or might lead to unfavorable interactions,” according to a spokesman.
Conflict Alerts, on the other hand, is likely to use AI techniques similar to those used by Facebook to detect offensive speech on the platform. These kinds of models aren’t always accurate, and they’re easily tricked by things like comedy, irony, and slang. They should, however, be able to detect more clear signs of an argument, such as someone calling individuals “IDIOTS!” as shown in the example screenshot above.
Other new admin tools unveiled today include a new admin homepage that serves as a dashboard, providing an overview of “posts, members, and reported comments,” as well as access to new member summaries, which compile “each group member’s activity in the group, such as the number of times they’ve posted and commented, or when they’ve had posts removed or muted in the group.”
There’s also a new function called Admin Assist that automates comment moderation. Admins will be able to limit who is permitted to submit comments (for example, by blocking recently joined users), as well as prevent spam and unwanted promotions by prohibiting specific links. Admin Assist will include the Conflict Alerts function.
All of these features are detailed in Facebook’s blog post announcement
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