Ideas: The Wonderful World of Content Moderation

Here's another item sitting around for a while in my "to post" list. A few months ago, Wired published this look at the wonderfully icky world of content moderation, one of the tech industry's biggest sources of employment. The workforces at these places dwarf even companies like Google.



I get the sense that there is a new underclass developing with the internet revolution. Instead of the Oliver Twist type running under the textile machines to clear the loose threads, we have these poor mopes staring at their screens all day, slowly draining humanity from their souls. There's also a colonial element to this, with the Philippine people being targeted for this role for their connection to American culture, a holdover from when the country was controlled by the U.S.

This seems like such fertile ground for a movie idea, I'm surprised no one's been inspired by this so far (if anyone knows otherwise, please correct me). I could see it as a serious meditation on the hidden cost of our technological amusement in the vein of a Black Mirror episode. Or it could be a Netflix queue horror movie, part Saw, part The Ring, starring Billy Zane as the dickish, unbelieving boss at the content moderation company who dies first. Quality stuff.

Either way, your move, Hollywood!