How Trust & Safety on the internet has changed from the 2000s to now

How Trust & Safety on the internet has changed from the 2000s to now

Trust and safety has become increasingly important in our digital age, as more and more people rely on technology to connect, communicate, and conduct transactions. From social media platforms to e-commerce websites, companies have had to adapt and evolve their trust and safety practices to keep up with the changing landscape of online activity. In this article, we will explore the evolution of trust and safety over the years, highlighting specific examples of how it has changed and adapted to meet new challenges.

Early Years: Basic Verification and Moderation

In the early days of the internet, trust and safety were not major concerns, as there were relatively few online interactions and transactions. However, as more people began to use the internet for commerce and communication, companies started to develop basic trust and safety measures to protect their users. For example, early online marketplaces like eBay and Amazon implemented basic user verification processes to ensure that sellers were legitimate and buyers were trustworthy. These platforms also had moderators who would review user feedback and remove listings that violated their policies.

Mid-2000s: Rise of Social Media and the Need for Content Moderation

The mid-2000s saw the rise of social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, which allowed people to share content and communicate with each other on a global scale. However, with this new form of communication came new challenges related to trust and safety. Social media companies had to develop content moderation policies and practices to prevent harmful or offensive content from spreading on their platforms. For example, Facebook implemented a reporting system for users to flag content that violated its community standards, and the company hired thousands of content moderators to review and remove such content.

Late 2000s to Early 2010s: Emergence of Mobile Technology and the Need for Location-Based Safety Features

The late 2000s and early 2010s saw the emergence of mobile technology, which allowed people to access the internet and interact with others from anywhere at any time. This shift in technology created new opportunities for companies to provide location-based safety features to their users. For example, the ride-hailing company Uber implemented a feature that allows riders to share their location and trip details with friends and family for added safety. The dating app Tinder also implemented a similar feature that allows users to share their location with a designated friend while on a date.

Mid-2010s to Present: Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in Trust and Safety

In recent years, artificial intelligence and machine learning have become increasingly important tools for trust and safety. These technologies allow companies to identify and address potential risks and threats more quickly and effectively. For example, Twitter has implemented machine learning algorithms to identify and remove spam and abusive content from its platform. Similarly, Google uses machine learning to detect and block fraudulent ads from its search results.

Conclusion

As the digital landscape continues to evolve, trust and safety will remain important considerations for companies and individuals alike. While basic verification and moderation practices were sufficient in the early days of the internet, the rise of social media, mobile technology, and artificial intelligence has created new challenges and opportunities for trust and safety. By continuing to innovate and adapt, companies can create safer and more trustworthy online experiences for their users.

Trust and Safety teams play a more important role than ever at their companies, and it's important that T&S professionals have access to the best tools to monitor for bad actors on their platform. One tool that is useful for trust & safety monitoring is LogicLoop. LogicLoop empowers trust & safety analysts to set up alerts on top of data in order to continuously monitor for bad actor behavior. This can be used to:

  • Ban platform users to using for violent or inappropriate keywords
  • Detect plagiarized content
  • Flag patterns associate with spam and fraud
  • Monitor suspicious IP addresses and geolocations

LogicLoop is quick and easy to set up on top of your data and can help trust and safety analysts stay on top of fraud without needing engineering resources.

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