Facebook Admin Assist

We used to use an automated removal system provided by Facebook called Admin Assist. However, we do not use it any longer.

Facebook Admin Assist removed too many posts in a way that affected our standing in some Facebook algorithms. We were flagged as “account limiting” and some users found that they could not post in ANY groups because Admin Assist would remove too many of their posts in our group. We believe this is because they allow the post to be counted as posted and then follow up with an automatic removal instead of rejecting the post.


Moderation Philosophy and Procedures

Our Moderation Philosophy

GCF doesn’t have a staff and it isn’t anyone’s full time job to moderate it. We get over 5,000 comments per day, 500 new members per day, and hundreds of posts per day. GCF is an environment that provides a space to share camping related content – but keep in mind that you are using this space for free and that we aren’t paid to provide any services to you.

Our Moderation Procedures

All Posts and Post Edits Go Through an Approval Process.

Our team of volunteer moderators and admins reviews each post before it is posted to ensure that *to their subjective understanding* the post fits our rules. The same post may be rejected by one moderator and accepted by another. However, we try to be as consistent as possible.

It may take up to 24 hours for a post to be approved and visible in the group. If a post is edited, it remain frozen in the group until a moderator approves the edit.

We don’t see all the comments (or posts for that matter).

That’s right, we have over 5000 comments a day and they not only can’t be pre-screened, they may not even be seen at all by an Admin or Moderator. We can’t constantly check every post from the beginning of time and read all of the comments. We use a tool called Facebook Moderation Alerts that will automatically alert us to potential trouble Posts or Comments that use certain words or phrases and those are all reviewed. We also review ANY post or comment that has been REPORTED using Facebook’s Report to Admin feature that can be used by any member on any post or comment.

Assume that if you have not reported a comment that a moderator or admin has not seen it.

We use Facebook Moderation Alerts.

Facebook Moderation Alerts points out potential trouble posts or comments and queues them in a place for us to review. We set up the criteria for potential issues and Facebook does the rest. This tool is great for comments and has helped us find and weed out a lot of drama, discrimination, spam, and fake accounts within the GCF landscape.

We are alerted by 46 different words or phrases which alert us to potential issues in the following categories:

  • Spam including advertising other Facebook Groups, events, or websites.
  • Spam using common phrases from fake accounts and common spam country names.
  • Racism or Discrimination including every reference to “Black”, “African American”, “Trans”, “Tranny”, “Racist”, “Woman”, “Women”, “Welcomed”, “Welcome”, “Allowed”.
  • Spam including social media account shares and attempts to gain followers.
  • Common phrases used by members who are attempting to highlight undesired content or contact a moderator.

Each comment or post which matches these criteria is evaluated one by one to ensure that our rules are not broken.

We see and evaluate every REPORTED post or comment.

It takes everyone to clean up camp. As you stroll around GCF you may see a little trash laying around. Well don’t just stand there and complain about it, help us pick it up! We review each and every reported post or comment. Our administrators and moderators jump on every so often and see what may have been reported and each post or comment is read and dealt with.

Please, please, please report any comments or posts that you believe are inappropriate or need to be reviewed. This is the best way to alert us to remove it. Additionally, you can message the GCF page if you are unsure about how to report or want additional discussion.