Summary: LinkedIn has gradually been improving its group moderation tools and spam control measures. This is an overview of the state-of-the art in LinkedIn Group management. If used effectively, scammers will soon find that LinkedIn is no longer a spammer's paradise. I invite all readers to share how the Linkedin Groups to which they belong are using the new tools.

LinkedIn Introduces New Group Management Tools to Fight Spam

Like all other on-line communities, LinkedIn Groups have faced the challenge of spam control. I wrote an Event Coup feature about a year ago entitled:

• Crowdsourcing in the Management of On-Line Communities

This Event Coup feature advocated "crowdsourcing" as an approach to on-line community management. It also described the tools that would be needed to automate this process. A group for event planners that I manage implemented crowdsourcing before the tools to automate the process were available. It took a while but Linkedin has gradually been introducing new group management tools and spam control measures. This was in response to the flood of complaints it had been receiving about spam from Group Owners, Group Managers, and LinkedIn Members. This week, with the introduction of "Permissions" and "Moderation", LinkedIn took a huge step forward to ensure that groups are spam-free.

LinkedIn - Group Management Toolkit

For some time, LinkedIn Groups have had:

• a system that flags LinkedIn members who are at high risk for spamming....even in groups with open membership, these members must have their application for membership approved by a member of the group management team/li>
• a carousel
  this is where all new discussions and job postings appear until they:
  1. receive comments
  2. get flagged
  3. get deleted
• a flagging system
  (i.e. inappropriate, jobs and promotion flags)
• automatic deletion of content flagged as "inappropriate" by a numer of group members
• a "Promotions" tab
• a "Moderations" queue that allows Group Managers to make decisions based on group member flags

Each LinkedIn Group is different so this toolkit is flexible. Some functions are fixed, others are optional and many can be customized. This week, LinkedIn introduced a new option for group management, "Change Permissions".

Changing Permissions

Hovering over the "Change Permissions" button gives group owners and managers the option of selecting:

• Block and Delete (i.e. the member is removed and blocked from the group and all contributions are deleted)
• Approved to Post
• Requires Moderation

Requires Moderation

"Modertion" was introduced by LinkedIn this week. By default, LinkedIn places certain group members in the "Requires Moderation" category. In addition to this, if a member post spam or promotional content", group managers now have the option of selecting "Requires Moderation". All posts from members who "require moderation" require approval before they appear in any area of the group. Group Managers have the option of deleting promotional material or placing it in the Promotions tab so that Group Members can flag to have it removed if they so desire.

LinkedIn Groups: New Spam Control Measures

Up until this week, group management teams on linkedin had only 3 options for dealing with spam:

• leave it up to members to flag discussions, job postings or individual comments as "inappropriate". After the required number of flags, the system automatically deletes the item
• delete it - really important for scams and pornography for example
• click on the button that directs Linkedin to remove all the contributions of a specific member, remove them from the group and block them from re-applying for membership.

How to Know if you have been flagged for moderation

If there is a lag time between when you start a discussion, post a job or add a comment in a LinkedIn Group and when it appears, then your "permissions" in one or more LinkedIn Groups have been reduced. The new "Requires Moderation" option opens up a much more proactive and powerful approach to managing LinkedIn Groups. If group members actively use flags (particularly "flag as inappropriate") and group management teams avail themselves of the "Requires Moderation" feature, spammers and scammers will quickly find that they are no longer able to roam freely on LinkedIn. Kudos to LinkedIn.

Next Steps

If you're a member of a LinkedIn group the most important things you can do to play a role in providing a meaningful experience for all members are:

1. start meaningful dicussions and post them in the appropriate area of the group and its subgroups
2. when you share an article or content from your blog, include a synopsis of highlighs and key questions to stimulate discussions
3. post jobs an rfps to help your fellow group members in a tough economy
4. refrain from posting promotional material and other spam
5. Use the "Flag as Inappropriate" flag whenever you see promotional material and other spam

If you haven't tried a LinkedIn group yet. I encourage you to try it. LinkedIn groups are instrumental tools in growing your network and getting more power out of Linkedin. 

For more information, you may find the following helpful:

• The LinkedIn Blog LinkedIn Groups Moderation
• Groups - LinkedIn Learning Centre

Upcoming Event Coup Feature: In view of these changes, Event Coup will soon release a LinkedIn Group Management Primer.

Photo Credit: Shekhar_Sahu