4 ms·

Is there any study or papers on people who actively go through such content? What changes about them after?

mttjj 5y ago
Not exactly what you’re looking for but I remember reading this when it was published and it was disturbing to say the least : https://www.theverge.com/2019/2/25/18229714/cognizant-facebook-content-moderator-interviews-trauma-working-conditions-arizona https://www.theverge.com/2019/2/25/18229714/cognizant-facebo...
scrollaway 5y ago
There's a lot of first hand accounts of people explaining the logic behind seeking and watching such content. The WatchPeopleDie subreddit had a lot of that and you had many people detailing their experience, but iirc it turned into a neo-nazi hangout before it got banned.
shard 5y ago
I'm not aware of any studies, but there are several articles on the content moderators. Some effects mentioned were: - people develop severe anxiety while still in training, and continue to struggle with trauma symptoms long after they leave - conspiracy videos and memes that they see each day gradually lead them to embrace fringe views - Fired employees regularly threatened to return to work and harm their old colleagues - they coped with the stress of the job with sex, drugs, and offensive jokes, all in the workplace - self-harm were also common - turned people intensely paranoid https://www.theverge.com/2019/2/25/18229714/cognizant-facebook-content-moderator-interviews-trauma-working-conditions-arizona https://www.theverge.com/2019/2/25/18229714/cognizant-facebo... https://www.wired.com/2014/10/content-moderation/ https://www.wired.com/2014/10/content-moderation/
- winrid 5y ago
  This is very upsetting that these people go through this just so a website can be "clean". Of course it's a kind of a "greater good" question, but that still upsets me.
eigen 5y ago
some news stories about various content moderator positions paint a picture that isnt great for the people working the job. https://www.wired.com/2014/10/content-moderation/ https://www.wired.com/2014/10/content-moderation/ https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/may/04/facebook-content-moderators-ptsd-psychological-dangers https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/may/04/facebook-... https://www.npr.org/2019/07/01/737498507/for-facebook-content-moderators-traumatizing-material-is-a-job-hazard https://www.npr.org/2019/07/01/737498507/for-facebook-conten...

Not exactly what you’re looking for but I remember reading this when it was published and it was disturbing to say the least : https://www.theverge.com/2019/2/25/18229714/cognizant-facebook-content-moderator-interviews-trauma-working-conditions-arizona https://www.theverge.com/2019/2/25/18229714/cognizant-facebo...

scrollaway 5y ago

There's a lot of first hand accounts of people explaining the logic behind seeking and watching such content. The WatchPeopleDie subreddit had a lot of that and you had many people detailing their experience, but iirc it turned into a neo-nazi hangout before it got banned.

shard 5y ago

I'm not aware of any studies, but there are several articles on the content moderators. Some effects mentioned were: - people develop severe anxiety while still in training, and continue to struggle with trauma symptoms long after they leave - conspiracy videos and memes that they see each day gradually lead them to embrace fringe views - Fired employees regularly threatened to return to work and harm their old colleagues - they coped with the stress of the job with sex, drugs, and offensive jokes, all in the workplace - self-harm were also common - turned people intensely paranoid https://www.theverge.com/2019/2/25/18229714/cognizant-facebook-content-moderator-interviews-trauma-working-conditions-arizona https://www.theverge.com/2019/2/25/18229714/cognizant-facebo... https://www.wired.com/2014/10/content-moderation/ https://www.wired.com/2014/10/content-moderation/

winrid 5y ago
This is very upsetting that these people go through this just so a website can be "clean". Of course it's a kind of a "greater good" question, but that still upsets me.

eigen 5y ago

some news stories about various content moderator positions paint a picture that isnt great for the people working the job. https://www.wired.com/2014/10/content-moderation/ https://www.wired.com/2014/10/content-moderation/ https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/may/04/facebook-content-moderators-ptsd-psychological-dangers https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/may/04/facebook-... https://www.npr.org/2019/07/01/737498507/for-facebook-content-moderators-traumatizing-material-is-a-job-hazard https://www.npr.org/2019/07/01/737498507/for-facebook-conten...