Channel / Community
Online spaces where members communicate around a shared topic, with membership and moderation.
Bundle → Layer → Finding → Questions Filled
3 bundles · 3 layers · 5 findings · 10 questions
Space and governance What the space is and who runs it.
Channel definition
The space, its platform, purpose and owners.
Identity and purpose
The channel's name, platform, purpose and visibility.
- Which platform hosts the channel, and under which name and address?
- Is the channel public, private or invitation-only?
Rules and moderation
Community rules and who enforces them.
- Which rules apply in the channel, and where are they published?
- Who are the owners and moderators, and how can members appeal moderation?
Membership Who belongs and in which role.
Members and roles
Membership, roles and joining rules.
Membership record
A member, their role and when they joined.
- Which role does a member hold, and since when?
- How do people join or get removed, and who decides?
Activity What happens in the space.
Content and moderation actions
Posts, threads and the moderation applied to them.
Moderation action
Content removed, members muted or banned, with reasons.
- Which moderation actions were taken, against which content or member, and why?
- Was the affected member notified and offered a way to appeal?
Activity level
How active the channel is.
- How many members are active over a given period?
- Is the channel still maintained, or abandoned by its owners?
Classifiers Filled
- Family
- World Models
- Category
- Information and virtual systems
- Entry kind
- standalone-mm
- Navigation path
- NAV.INF.VRT.CH
- Domain
- INF.VRT.CH
- Industry
- Cross-industry
- Tags
- channelcommunityinf.vrt.ch
What it is Filled
A channel or community is an online space where a group of members communicate around a shared topic or purpose, such as a forum, group chat, mailing list or social media group. It is described by its owner and moderators, its membership and roles, its rules and the content posted in it. Individual accounts, single messages and offline associations are separate subjects.
Why it exists Filled
Online spaces where members communicate around a shared topic, with membership and moderation.
Distinguishing features Filled
- A group space with members, roles and rules, not a single account or message.
- Governed by its own owners and moderators within the platform's terms.
- Distinct from an offline association, which has legal form and membership outside the platform.
- Distinct from public discourse in general, which spans many channels and media.
What robots and AI may and may not do Filled
Must not
- Post as a person without disclosing automation where the rules or law require it.
- Use fake accounts to join, flood or manipulate a community.
- Scrape and republish members' private content or personal data.
- Ban or remove members without the moderators' decision.
- Harass members or spread content that targets them.
Only with a human decision
- Banning members or deleting a channel.
- Changing community rules.
- Reporting members to authorities.
May
- Summarize public channel content and rules for a user.
- Assist moderators by flagging content that may break the rules.
- Post in a channel on a member's behalf with their approval and following its rules.
- Report activity statistics to the channel owners.
Moral aspects Filled
- Online communities give people belonging and support, and their collapse or capture harms members.
- Moderation decisions affect free expression and must be fair and explainable.
- Members share personal matters expecting the audience they chose, not wider exposure.
Who is affected
- Community members
- Moderators and owners
- People discussed or targeted in the channel
Owners Filled
Steward
The channel owner or founding member governs the community within the hosting platform's terms.
Master systems
- Platform group and channel directories
Links to other meta-models Filled
references
- wm-vrt-005-online-account - Members take part through online accounts.
contains
- wm-rec-003-message - A channel holds the messages posted in it.
related
- world-d8-public-discourse-and-opinion - Public channels are venues of public discourse.
- wm-org-006-membership - Channel membership resembles organizational membership but lives on a platform.
What else AI and robots need to interact with it Filled
Identity and identifiers required Filled
- A channel is identified by the platform and its channel or group identifier or address.
- Mailing lists are identified by their list address.
Direct properties not applicable Not applicable
Not applicable
A channel is an online space, not a physical object with measurable physical properties.
Recognition optional Filled
- A named online space with members, posts and usually rules and moderators.
- Often confused with a single account's feed, a broadcast page without member interaction, or an offline club.
Capabilities and actions required Filled
- Members can post, reply, react and invite others according to their role.
- Owners and moderators can set rules, approve members and remove content.
Hazards and failure modes required Filled
- Harassment, hate and disinformation spreading within or from the channel.
- Takeover of the channel by spam or coordinated manipulation.
- Exposure of members' personal data.
Standards and interfaces required Filled
- ActivityPub for federated groups and posts.
- Matrix and IRC protocols for chat channels.
- Email list standards such as RFC 2369 list headers.
Context of use required Filled
- Hosted on social platforms, forums, chat services and mailing list servers.
- Platform terms and online safety law shape moderation duties.
Sources Filled
- ActivityPub, W3C Recommendation
- Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 Digital Services Act, European Union
- Santa Clara Principles on Transparency and Accountability in Content Moderation
Open questions
- Planned model: boundary questions, research and every section remain to be written.
Machine files
Provenance
planned (registry candidate) · todo
Built from: models/runtime-index.json, ver-cy/world-models/card-supplements/wm-vrt-006-channel-community.json
Planned entry, hidden from the catalogue until researched.