Psychological distress in a social media content moderator: A case report

Abstract

The expansion of social media platforms has given birth to a specific professional category in charge of « sanitizing » social media and keeping it free of “inappropriate” content. These content moderators, as a result of being constantly exposed to potentially traumatic images, may be at risk of developing stress-related symptoms. Here we present the case of a social media content moderator who experienced intrusive images, anxiety symptoms and insomnia. Literature about this subject is very scarce, while the need is increasing to assess this phenomenon and set up strategies of monitoring, counseling and treating this category of workers. Key points The expansion of social media platforms has given birth to a specific professional category: content moderators. As a result of being constantly exposed to potentially traumatic images, content moderators may be at risk of developing stress-related symptoms. The need is increasing to assess this phenomenon and set up strategies of monitoring, counseling and treating this category of workers.