Boundary Control as Gatekeeping in Facebook Groups

Media and Communication

article

Sanna Malinen¹ 

[1] Department of Social Research, University of Turku

关键词: Facebook;    Facebook groups;    gatekeeping;    moderation;    platforms;    political discussions;    social networks;   

DOI  :  10.17645/mac.v9i4.4238

学科分类：医学（综合）

来源: Cogitatio Press

【 摘 要 】

Facebook groups host user‐created communities on Facebook’s global platform, and their administrative structure consistsof members, volunteer moderators, and governance mechanisms developed by the platform itself. This study presents theviewpoints of volunteers who moderate groups on Facebook that are dedicated to political discussion. It sheds light on howthey enact their day‐to‐day moderation work, from platform administration to group membership, while acknowledgingthe demands that come from both these tasks. As volunteer moderators make key decisions about content, their worksignificantly shapes public discussion in their groups. Using data obtained from 15 face‐to‐face interviews, this qualitativestudy sheds light on volunteer moderation as a means of media control in complex digital networks. The findings show thatmoderation concerns not just the removal of content or contacts but, most importantly, it is about protecting group normsby controlling who has the access to the group. Facebook’s volunteer moderators have power not only to guide discussionbut, above all, to decide who can participate in it, which makes them important gatekeepers of the digital public sphere.

【 授权许可】

CC BY