The moderation queue: how we built it, why it matters

The problem we kept hearing about

When you're running a live event - whether it's a conference talk, a lecture hall, or a Sunday service - the magic happens when the audience feels heard. But the moment someone posts something offensive, off-topic, or just plain weird, that magic evaporates. The host has to make a call: delete it and look heavy-handed, or leave it up and lose control of the room.

We launched Feedr's free tier with a basic comment stream. Upvoting worked beautifully. People loved seeing their comments rise to the top. But very quickly, paying hosts came back asking us to solve the moderation problem. Not everyone needs it. A tiny meditation group? Fine. A 500-person conference? That's a different story.

We decided the answer wasn't to auto-filter everything (kill the authenticity) or to leave hosts defenceless. We built something in between: a queue.

How the queue actually works

On Creator tier and up, every comment lands in a moderation queue first. The host sees it on their iOS or Android device before it appears in the live stream. A few taps: approve it to go live, or delete it before anyone sees it. Simple.

The reason we designed it this way comes down to one thing: time. At a live event, you don't have the luxury of sitting back and thinking. You're mid-sentence, watching the audience, reading comments, all at once. The queue doesn't ask you to be perfect. It just gives you a moment to decide.

What surprised us after launch was that most hosts didn't need to delete much. Maybe one or two comments per session. What they really wanted was the option. Knowing you can remove something gave them confidence to keep the comment stream open. Paradoxically, offering moderation made the experience feel safer and more open at once.

When the queue saved a session

A lecturer in Manchester ran a talk on a sensitive topic. Within the first two minutes, he got a comment that was clearly meant to derail the conversation. Without the queue, it would have been live instantly. Fifty students would've seen it. He'd have lost five minutes untangling the mess. Instead, he tapped decline. The comment never went live. The session moved on. He told us later that single feature was the difference between feeling in control and feeling hunted.

That story stuck with me because it showed something we hadn't anticipated: moderation isn't just about removing toxicity. It's about maintaining the conversation's direction. Some hosts use the queue to filter spam. Others use it to surface the best questions to the top first. A few have told us they use it to keep the energy level consistent - approving comments that build on the topic, holding back ones that tangent away.

Why it's a paid feature (and why that matters)

Moderation takes thought. It requires the host to be intentional about the space they're creating. We put the queue on Creator tier (£6.99 a month or £49.99 a year) deliberately. It's not gatekeeping. It's honest: if you're running events with hundreds of people, you need tools that match that responsibility. If you're just testing Feedr with a small group, you probably don't need it yet.

The free tier gives you three sessions a month, up to 100 people, and a live comment stream with no queue. No moderation, but also no clutter. It's real. It works for case studies, small panels, internal team check-ins. When you grow beyond that, you get the tooling.

We've watched some hosts stay on free for months and eventually realise: 'Actually, I need this.' Others never do. Both are valid.

What it doesn't do (and what we're thinking about next)

The moderation queue is human-powered. You have to read each comment and decide. We haven't automated it. Some builders push for keyword filters or auto-blocking; we've resisted. You know your audience. You know what fits your event. A generic filter that catches 'bad' words will catch legitimate things - medical terms, slang, context-specific language. We'd rather trust the host to judge.

That said, we're aware this becomes harder as audience size scales. If you're hosting 5,000 people, a human queue gets unwieldy. That's a conversation we're having internally. For now, Pro hosts with unlimited audience sizes can add guest moderators via invite link, so you're not drowning alone.

The queue is one piece of a bigger picture. Pinning comments lets you highlight the best ones live. Upvoting surfaces what the crowd cares about. Guest moderator links let you bring in trusted people to help manage the flow. Together, they create a space that feels alive and moderated at once.