Users' videos drive Facebook moderators crazy — only a few survive
Working for such a solid company as Facebook may seem like a dream to many. But moderators working with user content are not at all sure about this. As it turned out, even with a good salary and excellent working conditions, few of them work for more than a year. Still — who can withstand the daily viewing of videos with murders, tortures and entertainment of perverts?
Employees of Cognizant from Arizona, USA, which cooperates with Facebook, performing moderation of user posts, shared their problems. Employees of this company admit that they struggle with stress in the workplace as soon as they can, and they call quite unusual ways for office workers. Among other things, they mentioned smoking marijuana in offices and even sex in the stairwell.
And what can they do if they have to watch hundreds of videos with scenes of violence against adults, children and animals every day? It is possible that someday, these responsibilities will be assigned to the program, but now the computer algorithm only performs a preliminary assessment of the content.
According to the rules of the site, users are prohibited from posting content containing scenes of violence, propaganda of crime and cruelty, pornographic materials and much more. The decision on whether the video material complies with the rules of the social network or not is made by the person who views the dubious stories selected by the program.
The Verge journalists talked with the moderators of the social network and found out how work affects the psyche of Cognizant employees. People who shared their experiences signed a non-disclosure agreement on the details of their work, but violated the ban in order to lift the veil over the "kitchen" of Facebook moderation.
Moderators start working early — at 7 a.m. and immediately after coming to work, they start viewing posts. All day long, the company's employees make a decision on the placement or prohibition of this or that material, passing through their consciousness a huge amount of information, mostly negative.
The company has strict rules — moderators are prohibited from using mobile phones, making notes or notes and, of course, copying information to media. Rest in the office is strictly regulated, and any delay is strictly punishable by monetary fines.
An intern named Chloe said that when applying for a job, she was shown a video that showed the brutal murder of a man. The poor man was wounded several times and he screamed and begged for mercy. The girl was asked to familiarize herself with the video, make a decision on its placement or deletion and explain her decision in detail. Chloe coped with the task, but after that she went out into the corridor and cried there.
After she calmed down and returned to the classroom, there was a discussion of another video with a mass murder of people. The girl ran out of the room again and hid in the toilet. The mentor who found her sobbing calmly informed her that over time she would get used to it and stop reacting so acutely to violence and death.
Moderators are advised to watch the video with the sound turned off and make sure that the breathing is even. The company also employs psychological specialists who help to cope with stress in particularly difficult situations. But sex on the stairs, "weed" and cynical jokes, according to Cognizant employees, help to cope with stress much more effectively.
Chloe told reporters that moderators usually work for no more than a year and then quit. The girl also withstood about the same amount — she realized that the negative from the viewed materials began to influence her psyche. Once she had a panic attack in the cinema when she was watching the movie "Mom!" with Jennifer Lawrence. The footage from the film reminded her of the first video with a murdered man, which she was shown at an internship. Another time, Chloe's fright was caused by the TV that her household was watching. The girl woke up to the sound of gunshots and begged her family to switch the channel to another show where there is no violence.
An employee of Cognizant said that moderators specialize in different topics and this leaves an imprint on the mental state of people. This is how conspiracy theorists begin to believe in the most absurd ideas, such as a flat earth. In addition, many develop persecution mania and they calmly fall asleep only with a weapon at hand.
The Verge journalists managed to talk to such a person. The guy sleeps with a gun under his pillow and even made a detailed evacuation plan in case of danger. After systematically watching videos of certain content, the young man no longer believes that the terrorist attacks of September 11 were committed by Islamic fundamentalists. There is such a revolution in consciousness because after watching a huge number of videos made by people from different countries of the world, the question creeps into the moderator's head — is the idea so ridiculous if so many people are sure of it?