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The Human Toll of Protecting the Internet from the Worst of Humanity

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Re: The Human Toll of Protecting the Internet from the Worst of Humanity

#11

Post by Broken_Hippo »

kartan wrote: post #4

> constant exposure to the worst of humanity on a daily basis takes an undeniable toll. This is one of the troubles police officers find in their daily work. When they are not part of the society where they work it is hard for them to empathize, as they just see the worst parts of that society. In the police case also to have members of the police that are part of the communities they serve. But counseling also is ne…

This is exactly why I wish we'd just hire more police so the existing ones can spend a shift a week doing positive community work.

Helping folks, getting to know the 'normal' folks. This is when I get to the problem: I don't know what exactly I'd ask them to do, but it would be things like: Free (or very low cost) 2-hour windows of child care on the weekends to give parents a stress break, delivering hot food to elderly folks, helping some folks with lawn care or organize to repair some houses (at little to no cost to the dweller). Actual community improvements.

What is more common is to have well-advertised PR events and regulations that they live in the area. Simply living in the area without being exposed to the positive sides is not enough in my opinion.

Re: The Human Toll of Protecting the Internet from the Worst of Humanity

#12

Post by RangerScience »

Huh. I'm reminded of that story about the guy who's shown surveillance footage of the middle east, and there's a computer that watches his brain because his brain will react to there being things like people in the images faster than he can be consciously aware of it.

Would it work to use such a system to improve filtering while reducing the human cost? Or would it do something akin to what subliminal advertising is credited with, and just push the damage to the unconscious level?

Re: The Human Toll of Protecting the Internet from the Worst of Humanity

#13

Post by apatters »

Instead of inflicting PTSD on content moderators, why not give the job to someone who actually wants to see this type of content? They must exist, otherwise the content wouldn't spread in the first place.

And/or crowdsource it so that more people are spending less time doing it? Viewing a little bit of this content is probably less traumatic than viewing it for 40 hours a week.

Of course I realize it'd probably be a regulatory minefield, a thorny area morally, and any specific plan would likely draw critics. But it seems a lot better to me than scarring people for life with a full time barrage of things that repulse them.

For instance, why not offer convicted pedophiles jobs which involve screening out child porn? That would save an innocent person from the trauma involved and it might even allow the pedophile to feel like he was redeeming himself to some degree by saving others from viewing that material. From my understanding many people with that fetish feel a lot of remorse about it and they're not exactly trying to get other people into it.

Re: The Human Toll of Protecting the Internet from the Worst of Humanity

#15

Post by [deleted] »

apatters wrote: post #13

Instead of inflicting PTSD on content moderators, why not give the job to someone who actually wants to see this type of content? They must exist, otherwise the content wouldn't spread in the first place. And/or crowdsource it so that more people are spending less time doing it? Viewing a little bit of this content is probably less traumatic than viewing it for 40 hours a week. Of course I realize it'd probably be a…

[deleted]

Re: The Human Toll of Protecting the Internet from the Worst of Humanity

#16

Post by monista »

stephengillie wrote: post #2

Are there any projects working to automate the identification of offensive material with Machine Vision or Machine Learning? Replacing these peoples' jobs with computers might actually be a humane act.

Most obvious problem is: define offensive. What other people take as offense doesn't look offensive to me at all, and vice versa. There are other problems too.

The only way to fight offenses is to restrict phrasing to Common Universal Neutral Terms. Of course, message consisting only of Common Universal Neutral Term Sequences cannot possibly contain an offense!

Re: The Human Toll of Protecting the Internet from the Worst of Humanity

#17

Post by Lukas_Skywalker »

apatters wrote: post #13

Instead of inflicting PTSD on content moderators, why not give the job to someone who actually wants to see this type of content? They must exist, otherwise the content wouldn't spread in the first place. And/or crowdsource it so that more people are spending less time doing it? Viewing a little bit of this content is probably less traumatic than viewing it for 40 hours a week. Of course I realize it'd probably be a…

If I recall correctly, one strategy for preventing relapses is to avoid children. Using convicted pedophiles might be counterproductive for some.

Re: The Human Toll of Protecting the Internet from the Worst of Humanity

#18

Post by cannonpr »

apatters wrote: post #13

Instead of inflicting PTSD on content moderators, why not give the job to someone who actually wants to see this type of content? They must exist, otherwise the content wouldn't spread in the first place. And/or crowdsource it so that more people are spending less time doing it? Viewing a little bit of this content is probably less traumatic than viewing it for 40 hours a week. Of course I realize it'd probably be a…

So expose a mentally ill person to more triggers for his mental illness, for something which society despises and condemns him for ? I fail to see how this could ever be a good idea or moral. It's akin to saying lets make serial killers, soldiers. It would be a lot more sensible to have well payed and trained psychiatrists/psychologists do this job, trust me they are trained for, and exposed to far worse things than these moderators see.

Re: The Human Toll of Protecting the Internet from the Worst of Humanity

#19

Post by chordatum »

Broken_Hippo wrote: post #11
kartan wrote: post #4

> constant exposure to the worst of humanity on a daily basis takes an undeniable toll. This is one of the troubles police officers find in their daily work. When they are not part of the society where they work it is hard for them to empathize, as they just see the worst parts of that society. In the police case also to have members of the police that are part of the communities they serve. But counseling also is ne…

This is exactly why I wish we'd just hire more police so the existing ones can spend a shift a week doing positive community work. Helping folks, getting to know the 'normal' folks. This is when I get to the problem: I don't know what exactly I'd ask them to do, but it would be things like: Free (or very low cost) 2-hour windows of child care on the weekends to give parents a stress break, delivering hot food to elde…

I don't feel that the second paragraph is realistic. But where to start in explaining why?

Cop life is so complex that a weekly home economics shift isn't going to repair relationships, normalize psyches or adjust attitudes.

There's a depth of behavioral psychology to this problem that extends well beyond imagining a one-size-fits all therapy plan.

This can't be approached from the perspective of an outsider's view of what plays well to the public concept of what ordinary people imagine about police.

Re: The Human Toll of Protecting the Internet from the Worst of Humanity

#20

Post by _callcc »

I think we'll see more stratification on the internet in the coming years with subscriptions, etc.

There's probably even a market right now for a paid version of reddit or HN.

The sad fact is that the internet has gradually become a shithole as the entirety of humanity has joined in.

Twitter, for example, is being dragged down by low quality user accounts that add nothing but noise. It's actively hurting the stock price.

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