Tam Chronin (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
tamchronin) wrote2017-08-14 08:27 pm
tamchronin) wrote2017-08-14 08:27 pm
Social Media Moderation
A lot of why I disappeared from all things fandom is because I got a job in social media a few years ago, doing moderation work. It's pretty soul-crushing, really. Seeing the worst of humanity day in and day out is hard. It's not just trolling, though that's part of it. There are actual psychotic people out there who can't handle reality and hide online, trying to hurt others. And, well, if you've got any empathy, words can hurt a lot.
Now I have a job doing video content moderation, and it's different. I haven't run into any abusive rants about the moderators, specifically. The client I work for gets abuse, but that's the name of the game no matter what social media site you work for. But, nothing personal, like the last position I was at when I worked for my previous social media employer.
(I had death threats on the regular. I'm serious. There was one account I worked that I got a death threat every day I worked it. Every single shift, sometimes multiple times a shift because this troll kept getting banned and made a new account. Several times a day. I wasn't the only one being abused like this. And we'd get this just for following our client's moderation guidelines.)
But...video. Good Lord, but it's hard. News of something graphic hits, and we're viewing abuse reports of the content in hours. People don't want to see that shit, so they send it to the abuse team to see if it follows my client's guidelines for removal or other action. Taadaa! Animal abuse. Child abuse. Hate speech. Bullying. Murder. Mangled bodies. Weird kinks that involve former food or former people. This is my every day.
I'm trying to hang on to my faith in humanity...and, actually, the quality of my coworkers helps with that. They've been picked for their intelligence and compassion, both. I don't think I've ever been in a single room of people I like and respect more as a whole, than when I'm at work. They're amazing, even the one person who managed to somehow get on my nerves.
The people I surround myself with also help. I've let go of a lot of people I used to know who are hateful and spoiling for a fight. I've divorced myself from trolls. I hang on to people who challenge me, but do not needle me. There's a huge difference. I have no time for dealing with sadists unless I'm being paid to do it.
I'm finding a great self of self confidence and self worth. The job is fulfilling, because I'm making a difference in the world. I was sought after for this position, and that makes me feel like I have a desirable skill set for the first time in my life. It's like taking everything I learned from writing fanfic and multiplying it. I learned to cope with adversity. I learned to have confidence in myself. I learned to look at the world through the eyes of other people, and treat everyone with compassion from diverse points of view.
This is exhausting, but fulfilling. I'm doing something with my life. And when I cry, well, I cry. It's okay. It's just because I'm human, and I haven't let anything I've gone through erase that.
Now I have a job doing video content moderation, and it's different. I haven't run into any abusive rants about the moderators, specifically. The client I work for gets abuse, but that's the name of the game no matter what social media site you work for. But, nothing personal, like the last position I was at when I worked for my previous social media employer.
(I had death threats on the regular. I'm serious. There was one account I worked that I got a death threat every day I worked it. Every single shift, sometimes multiple times a shift because this troll kept getting banned and made a new account. Several times a day. I wasn't the only one being abused like this. And we'd get this just for following our client's moderation guidelines.)
But...video. Good Lord, but it's hard. News of something graphic hits, and we're viewing abuse reports of the content in hours. People don't want to see that shit, so they send it to the abuse team to see if it follows my client's guidelines for removal or other action. Taadaa! Animal abuse. Child abuse. Hate speech. Bullying. Murder. Mangled bodies. Weird kinks that involve former food or former people. This is my every day.
I'm trying to hang on to my faith in humanity...and, actually, the quality of my coworkers helps with that. They've been picked for their intelligence and compassion, both. I don't think I've ever been in a single room of people I like and respect more as a whole, than when I'm at work. They're amazing, even the one person who managed to somehow get on my nerves.
The people I surround myself with also help. I've let go of a lot of people I used to know who are hateful and spoiling for a fight. I've divorced myself from trolls. I hang on to people who challenge me, but do not needle me. There's a huge difference. I have no time for dealing with sadists unless I'm being paid to do it.
I'm finding a great self of self confidence and self worth. The job is fulfilling, because I'm making a difference in the world. I was sought after for this position, and that makes me feel like I have a desirable skill set for the first time in my life. It's like taking everything I learned from writing fanfic and multiplying it. I learned to cope with adversity. I learned to have confidence in myself. I learned to look at the world through the eyes of other people, and treat everyone with compassion from diverse points of view.
This is exhausting, but fulfilling. I'm doing something with my life. And when I cry, well, I cry. It's okay. It's just because I'm human, and I haven't let anything I've gone through erase that.