I worked five years as a content moderator for a major web platform and was daily exposed to humanity’s worst impulses at scale. As a result of this work, I developed mild-PTSD symptoms, and needed to find a way to cope with all that I’d experienced. Not having any guidance or access to treatment, I embarked on an unconventional therapeutic project of creative world-building in order to work through the invisible scars left by constant exposure to toxicity and angry web users. Through this creative journey, I aimed to hopefully regain some measure of normalcy, control, and happiness in my own inner life.

Over time, my invented worlds became more and more elaborate, and I began integrating generative AI technologies to accelerate the process of intuitive discovery I’d been using to heal myself. Now, I’ve produced 100 short illustrated dystopian mini-novels with help from AI image generators like Midjourney, and text generators like ChatGPT and Anthropic’s Claude. 

Thematically, the books deal with our feelings of hopelessness in the face of out of control technology, and the need to listen to the authentic human spirit to find a way through it all. My work has recently been featured in Newsweek, CNN, and the New York Post.

I am coming forward to talk honestly about these issues from the perspective of someone who has ‘fought in the trenches’ of the Culture Wars, so to speak. Unfortunately, there are very few content moderators who have had the chance to speak publicly and share their experiences in a candid way, as they are often bound by non-disclosure agreements, or can’t talk for fear of losing their jobs. We must stop ignoring the hidden human costs of our highly toxic social media ecosystems, and start finding new ways forward that don’t exploit and distort human well-being for profit.

Related writing & research