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Proceedings of Seventh International Congress on Information and Communication Technology pp 283–298Cite as

Effects of a Novel Resiliency Training Program for Social Media Content Moderators

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Part of the Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems book series (LNNS,volume 465)

Abstract

Content moderation is a laborious position that requires employees to review highly graphic content for a notable portion of their workday. Adverse mental health effects have been associated with this classification of profession to include compassion fatigue, burnout, and secondary traumatic stress (STS), emphasizing a need for preventative measures to moderate these hazards. The present study aimed to identify whether a trauma focused resilience training program, termed The TaskUs Method, could sustain or improve a reviewer's resilience and compassion scores while minimizing the risk of developing secondary traumatic stress (STS) or burnout following repeated exposure. Similar to previous research on adjustment and desensitization, the study found a slight decline in resilience and compassion satisfaction within the first three months of employment. However, unlike previous research, the scores for resilience and compassion remain stable for three months following first exposure within production. Burnout and STS scores remained stable from baseline through three months, indicating that resilience acts as a moderating variable for the effects of content exposure. Additionally, cognitive control was found to predict burnout and STS, meaning individuals with higher cognitive control were less likely to feel overwhelmed and manage stress more effectively. Finally, resilience exhibited the most pertinent influence, as higher resilience scores were found to predict lower scores of burnout and STS and positively predicted compassion satisfaction.

Keywords

  • Content moderator
  • Resilience
  • Well-being
  • Telehealth
  • Psychological prevention
  • Traits

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. TaskUs LLC, San Antonio, TX, 78218, USA

    Miriah Steiger, Timir J. Bharucha, Wilfredo Torralba, Marlyn Savio, Priyanka Manchanda & Rachel Lutz-Guevara

Authors
  1. Miriah Steiger
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  2. Timir J. Bharucha
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  3. Wilfredo Torralba
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  4. Marlyn Savio
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  5. Priyanka Manchanda
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  6. Rachel Lutz-Guevara
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Miriah Steiger .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Middlesex University, London, UK

    Dr. Xin-She Yang

  2. The University of Reading, Reading, UK

    Dr. Simon Sherratt

  3. JIS University, Kolkata, India

    Dr. Nilanjan Dey

  4. Global Knowledge Research Foundation, Ahmedabad, India

    Dr. Amit Joshi

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Steiger, M., Bharucha, T.J., Torralba, W., Savio, M., Manchanda, P., Lutz-Guevara, R. (2023). Effects of a Novel Resiliency Training Program for Social Media Content Moderators. In: Yang, XS., Sherratt, S., Dey, N., Joshi, A. (eds) Proceedings of Seventh International Congress on Information and Communication Technology. Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems, vol 465. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-2397-5_27

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-2397-5_27

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