Could *you* handle this job?

[Stinky The Clown]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/19/technology/19screen.html?_r=2

Policing the Web’s Lurid Precincts

Ricky Bess spends eight hours a day in front of a computer near Orlando, Fla., viewing some of the worst depravities harbored on the Internet. He has seen photographs of graphic gang killings, animal abuse and twisted forms of pornography. One recent sighting was a photo of two teenage boys gleefully pointing guns at another boy, who is crying.

An Internet content reviewer, Mr. Bess sifts through photographs that people upload to a big social networking site and keeps the illicit material — and there is plenty of it — from being posted. His is an obscure job that is repeated thousands of times over, from office parks in suburban Florida to outsourcing hubs like the Philippines.

With the rise of Web sites built around material submitted by users, screeners have never been in greater demand. Some Internet firms have tried to get by with software that scans photos for, say, a large area of flesh tones, but nothing is a substitute for a discerning human eye.

The surge in Internet screening services has brought a growing awareness that the jobs can have mental health consequences for the reviewers, some of whom are drawn to the low-paying work by the simple prospect of making money while looking at pornography.

>more at the link above<

I'm really curious as to whether or not anyone thinks, honestly, they could handle this job.

I could handle the porn. I could handle some of the other crap. No way could I handle the kiddie porn and the criminal sexual behavior (S&M - even extreme - is not criminal sexual activity)

[Nuclear Unicorn]

1. Some days

I'm really happy to be naive and I want to stay that way.

[WillParkinson]

3. Seconded!

I've seen victims of animal abuse and that makes me cry. I couldn't handle anything like that. Ever.

[hobbit709]

2. I'm afraid that would warp my mind way beyond what I could handle.

[Kelvin Mace]

4. I hate humanity enough as it is

that job would kill what spark of optimism remained.

[ithinkmyliverhurts]

5. I thought that this was another one of those "Then you could be a DU moderator" posts.

[nadinbrzezinski]

6. I think I could

not that I'd want to...

Seen a few things as a medic that would shock folks, including human trafficking and yes kids doing horrible things to kids... as well as victims of torture.

So being innocent and naive is not my thing any more and this all but shocks or surprises me.

[mokawanis]

7. I could not do that job

I don't care what it pays, I wouldn't do it. Looking at disturbing images all day is bound to cause anger, anxiety, depression, imo.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

8. Eating cockroaches sounds more agreeable.

Hell, I avoid the oil covered bird pictures from the gulf.

"Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." I, sure as hell, don't want to go looking for it.

[av8rdave]

9. I don't think I could

[FormerDittoHead]

10. I only mind porn when it's poorly done.

:sarcasm: for the subject, the rest is serious:

No, I couldn't do it.

I once saw a picture of graphic "skat porn" (if you don't know, do NOT look it up - just move on) and it bothers me to this day.

A picture sometimes is worth more than 1,000 words.

[Brickbat]

11. It wouldn't be shocking, but it would be terribly depressing. I am glad there are people who feel

they are strong enough to do that.

[hedgehog]

12. Are the illegal images forwarded to law enforcement?

I'm thinking of obvious animal and child abuse.

[hedgehog]

13. Another question - has this stuff always been around and traded illicitly,

or did the Net bring a lot of people out of their holes and offer a market for this?

[Sal Minella]

17. This doesn't answer your question

but the first time I saw this, I thought it hellaciously funny:

Edit: It's an animation of "Caveman Pornography" -- a cartoon showing how things might have been, long, long ago . . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tM2t_lso83E

I've read that pornographic photographs were being sold in Paris almost immediately after the invention of photography.

I have a hunch any new technology is going to be incorporated immediately into the world of pornography.

[hedgehog]

22. I agree it's alwways been around, I 'm just wondering if there isn't a hell of

a lot more of it. Just speculation, but I was in college when Deep Throat and Devil in Miss Jones came out. I think the second film played for an entire semester at the theater across from the campus. I didn't go to see them, but apparently a lot of people did. I later found out that some of my classmates ( this was Engineering school) took lunch at a near-by strip bar. Playboy was about to be displaced by Hustler.

So, sex wasn't invented with the Internet. On the other hand, my impression is that while most people my age took a peak at least once just to see what all the fuss was about, few dedicated as much time to it as so many men do today. (I understand there are women who enjoy porn, but my impression is that we're generally talking about males here.)

I'd say the net facilitates the production and distribution of a lot more "home-made" porn than there used to be.

Consider the old style flasher who had to stalk his prey one person or group at a time vs. today's exhibitionists who can host web sites or post links on Facebook and such.

[Heidi]

14. It's not a job for which I would apply, but those doing it most likely DID apply.

Discuss.

[Chulanowa]

15. I could

But I wouldn't do so at "low pay."

I've dipped into the scum at the bottom of the internet more than a few times, and it's hard to think of anything that would be truly shocking.

The part that becomes shocking - and it's more a slowly growing pervasive sense of unease - is that someone dreamed this up, took the time to draw / photograph it, then someone else thought it was "cool" or "hot" and posted it in the internet, and then there's an audience who wants to look at it. The pictures themselves aren't shocking to me; I know what barbarisms people are capable of. it's the notion that there are people who derive joy from looking at the stuff that bothers me.

[Taverner]

16. Myself, I like the "amateur" stuff

AKA, the neighbor's 40-something wife posing in the bedroom

I want realism (aka real people) in my porn

[Liberal_in_LA]

18. nope!

[nonconformist]

19. No, I think it would be hard. Just reading about a boy crying while two others are pointing guns

at him disturbs me. :cry:

[Call Me Wesley]

20. No, thanks.

And I do wonder about the people who apply to this job. And I'm not talking boobies on photobucket here.

[tjwash]

21. Sounds like the NYT is ratcheting up the "kill net-neutrality" propaganda.

They've been blowing that dog whistle since 2007.

[Nay]

23. I am still haunted by that Chinese video of a man boiling a cat alive

and enjoying it. I could never do this job.

[Curmudgeoness]

24. No, couldn't do it. I don't want to know how many sick people there are

out there. Next thing you know, I will be thinking every person on the street is a sociopath.