To celebrate Safer Internet Day 2025 members of the SuperAwesome team have created a series of blogs to spotlight some of the ways we’re building a safer internet for the next generation. We’ll be covering personal perspectives as well as actionable insights and learnings from trusted data privacy and online safety experts. In this blog, our Community Systems Lead, Lynn Snyder, discusses the role of content classification and moderation in keeping young people safe online.
In the increasingly vast and sprawling landscape of digital content, it’s more important than ever to ensure that the content that reaches youth audiences is safe and appropriate. This isn’t simply about organizing information, finely tuned content classification plays a critical role in shaping the user experience, digital safety, and even trust.
Given my experience with content moderation for the beloved kids’ social/creative app PopJam, I bring a moderation mindset to my role as the Community Systems Lead at SuperAwesome. I ensure that our policies are informed by experts and deliver the highest standards of safety possible for the young people we serve.
As a mission-led business, safety is in our DNA. As we celebrate Safer Internet Day 2025, I wanted to highlight the vital role that content classification plays in keeping youth audiences safe online.
So, what are the main differences between content classification and content moderation?
Moderation vs. Classification
While both are essential for online safety, moderation and classification serve different purposes. Moderation focuses on removing or blocking harmful content, while classification organizes that content into categories. My experience in moderation has proved invaluable as I shifted to classification, shaping my approach with a focus on user safety and policy expertise.
Why the Moderation Mindset Matters
Effective content classification goes beyond algorithms and automated content flags. Policies work best when they’re informed by experts who understand digital engagement, content trends, and safety and compliance standards. Moderators with deep experience in reviewing content are often the first to recognize subtle shifts in trends, audience behaviors, or potential risks that might not be immediately apparent in purely automated systems. As a result, robust classification systems, executed with a “moderation mindset,” can do far more than enhance contextual targeting. At SuperAwesome, we classify all kinds of content across varied platforms in partnership with StrawberrySocial, whose agents are also highly experienced and trained in moderation best practices.
The Role of Human Expertise
Machine learning plays a valuable role in classification, but human insight remains absolutely essential. Algorithms can efficiently process large amounts of data, but they can miss contextual nuances that trained moderators can catch. For example, an algorithm might categorize a piece of content as suitable for young audiences based on language and metadata. However, a person with moderation experience might notice themes, references, or coded behavior when classifying content that might indicate that the content was better suited to a slightly older audience.
Context, external information (such as an influencer embroiled in a serious scandal), and other signals all play roles in robust classification.
Subtle flags matter, particularly when classifying content for young audiences.
Moving Beyond Labeling
A strong classification system doesn’t just label content – it helps ensure that it reaches the most appropriate audience. This requires a robust taxonomy that moves beyond broad demographics and generalized categories.
Awesome Intelligence is the first youth audience data and recommendation platform, with an unmatched taxonomy helping content reach not only the most accurate likely audience, but the most appropriate audiences. It gives an unparalleled insight into the dynamic and fragmented digital worlds of kids and teens and can be used to surface trends, create audience groups and plan media across platforms, as an input to safe activation.
Human experience and expertise play a major role in creating better, safer, and more relevant digital experiences. As content and online behavior patterns evolve, so must our approach to classification. At SuperAwesome, we’re committed to classifying content responsibly, prioritizing the end-user experience, and building a safer internet for the next generation.
