• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, August 18, 2006

In its first community-monitoring job as part of a joint venture with WPP/Wunderman, social network management service LiveWorld will moderate a branded network for the online component of LandRover's "Go Beyond" ad campaign.

For the campaign, users are able to post content about their own lives--with a focus on areas such as music, food, travel, sports, art, and of course journeys--to a networking site. LiveWorld's duties will include policing the site for usual gamut of objectionable content--including profanity and hate speech, according to Peter Friedman, LiveWorld's CEO.

But Friedman also said these duties are only a small part of community moderation, adding that LiveWorld also will set the tone and establish a direction for the site from the beginning. "LandRover is a very adventure-oriented brand, and with this social network they're extending that off-road adventure feel to all one's personal adventures in life," he said.

LiveWorld founder Jenna Woodul said that in general, developing a social network is a delicate process, involving posting relevant content and using moderators to initiate and guide conversation. Woodul said that it's possible for users to become moderators--or, on the other hand, LiveWorld hosts might enmesh themselves in the site's community, depending on a marketer's preference.

Although Friedman said brands in general are well-advised to take a light touch, LiveWorld's duties may also extend to monitoring--and even censoring--criticism of the brand. A recent sally into social network branding by competitor Chevy Tahoe, in which the brand invited users to submit their own ads, ran into trouble when environmental activists posted slickly produced ads attacking the vehicle's fuel efficiency.