Gaggle founder and CEO Jeff Patterson has warned about “a tsunami of youth suicide headed our way” and said that schools have “a moral obligation to protect the kids on their digital playground.” “It wasn’t enough money, and you’re really stuck there, staring at the computer, reading and just click, click, click, click.”Ĭontent moderators like Waskiewicz, hundreds of whom are paid just $10 an hour on month-to-month contracts, are on the front lines of a company that claims it saved the lives of 1,400 students last school year and argues that the growing mental health crisis makes its presence in students’ private affairs essential. “In all honesty, I was sort of half-assing it,” Waskiewicz admitted in an interview with The 74. Gaggle’s moderators face pressure to review 300 incidents per hour, and Waskiewicz knew she could get fired on a moment’s notice if she failed to distinguish mundane chatter from potential safety threats in a matter of seconds. But mostly, the low pay, the fight for decent hours, inconsistent instructions, and stiff performance quotas left her feeling burned out. Though she felt “a little bit like a voyeur,” she believed Gaggle helped protect kids. As a result, kids’ deepest secrets-like nude selfies and suicide notes-regularly flashed onto Waskiewicz’s screen.
