How to Moderate the App

One big concern for the app was that any rude or hurtful comments inventively said by high schoolers needs to be prevented or moderated. For example, Ask FM was an anonymous service for people to talk to each other and answer questions, yet this caused massive problems. There was even a case of suicide that was linked to the hurtful comments someone received because of this site. This means that my app needs to remove this sense of danger behind anonymity. Especially as it would be most frequented with vulnerable people, looking for help.

Saying that, it's still important that high schoolers should be given the opportunity of free speech. A massive problem in high schools is that students aren't respected for their words and are often disregarded for their issues. I want it to be possible to swear on this app as swearing is a part of life, similarly I want people to feel like they can be honest about the thoughts they're having.

Another concern with this is that students could confess particular issues that indicate they are in danger from self harm or from others around them. This leads me to think there should be further action if content like this is displayed. Maybe a link to a helpline, a personal message or their anonymity is unveiled.

Ways this could be resolved:

• There could be buzz words that cause questions to be immediately be 'binned'. The problem with this is that its entirely possible for things to be hurtful without using specific words. Besides I still hope to include swear words too, just with asterixing. 
• Having a 'time out' aspect involving kicking people off the server if they're reported. This could be on a tier system where eventually they would be banned from the app all together.
• Having moderators or 'mods' which will be managed by older students of the school, allows their to be an approval section of the app. This means that I could design a section of the app for the moderators, allowing them to easily approve acceptable questions.

Moderator App Wireframes