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Title: "Nip it in the Bud": Moderation Strategies in Open Source Software Projects and the Role of Bots
Much of our modern digital infrastructure relies critically upon open sourced software. The communities responsible for building this cyberinfrastructure require maintenance and moderation, which is often supported by volunteer efforts. Moderation, as a non-technical form of labor, is a necessary but often overlooked task that maintainers undertake to sustain the community around an OSS project. This study examines the various structures and norms that support community moderation, describes the strategies moderators use to mitigate conflicts, and assesses how bots can play a role in assisting these processes. We interviewed 14 practitioners to uncover existing moderation practices and ways that automation can provide assistance. Our main contributions include a characterization of moderated content in OSS projects, moderation techniques, as well as perceptions of and recommendations for improving the automation of moderation tasks. We hope that these findings will inform the implementation of more effective moderation practices in open source communities.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
1952085 2107298
PAR ID:
10469220
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ;
Publisher / Repository:
ACM
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction
Volume:
7
Issue:
CSCW2
ISSN:
2573-0142
Page Range / eLocation ID:
1 to 29
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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