Sarah T. Roberts Explained

Sarah T. Roberts
Birth Date:2 September 1975
Birth Place:Madison, Wisconsin U.S.
Nationality:American
Occupation:Professor
Known For:Behind the Screen
Education:University of Wisconsin-Madison
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Sarah T. Roberts (born September 2, 1975) is a professor, author, and scholar who specializes in content moderation of social media.[1] She is an expert in the areas of internet culture, social media, digital labor, and the intersections of media and technology. She coined the term "commercial content moderation" (CCM) to describe the job paid content moderators do to regulate legal guidelines and standards.[2] Roberts wrote the book Behind the Screen: Content Moderation in the Shadows of Social Media.[3]

Early life and education

Roberts grew up in Madison, Wisconsin and attended Madison West High School.

In 1997, Roberts received a B.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she double-majored in French and Spanish language and literature. She also earned a certificate of Women's Studies.[4] [5] In 2007, Roberts received an M.A. in Library and Information Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison's iSchool. In 2014, Roberts earned a PhD in Library and Information Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. Her dissertation, directed by Linda C. Smith, was titled Behind the Screen: The Hidden Digital Labor of Commercial Content Moderation.[6]

Career

From 2013 to 2016, Roberts was an assistant professor at the University of Western Ontario's Faculty of Information & Media Studies.[7]

In 2016, Roberts became an assistant professor at University of California, Los Angeles's Graduate School of Education and Information Studies.[8] [9] She was awarded tenure and promoted to Associate Professor in 2020.

Roberts' research focuses on commercial content moderation (CCM), the information work and workers, and on the social, economic, and political impact of the widespread adoption of the internet in everyday life.[10] Her work has raised public awareness around issues of social media platform moderation.[11] [12] Roberts' research has been featured in various media outlets including Wired, The New Yorker, The Guardian,[13] The New York Times,[14] among others.[15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21]

As part of her work, Roberts consulted on the 2018 documentary The Cleaners, which focused on content moderators and the challenges they face.[22]

In 2019, Roberts' book Behind the Screen: Content Moderation in the Shadows of Social Media was published by Yale University Press.[23] [24] [25] It is the first book-length ethnographic study of the work commercial content moderators. The book received positive reviews by publications including the Los Angeles Review of Books.[26]

Along with longtime collaborator Safiya Noble, Roberts is co-director of the Center for Critical Internet Inquiry (C2i2) at UCLA.[27] In 2019, Roberts was awarded an NSF grant to further her research on CCM.[28]

Awards

Select works and publications

Selected works

Selected publications

Films

Documentary

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Knetter. Dean. Listen: How Social Media Moderators Handle The Internet's Worst Content. Wisconsin Public Radio. 26 July 2019. en.
  2. News: Sarah T. Roberts, Assistant Professor, University of California, Los Angeles. Andrew Carnegie Fellow. Carnegie Corporation of New York. April 2018. en.
  3. Chotiner. Isaac. Q&A: The Underworld of Online Content Moderation. The New Yorker. en. 5 July 2019.
  4. News: Roberts is 1st Badger in '09 Google Policy Fellowship. College of Letters & Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison. 12 September 2009.
  5. Web site: Sarah Roberts, Assistant Professor. UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies (GSEIS). en. 10 May 2020.
  6. Roberts. Sarah T.. 2014. Behind the Screen: Content Moderation in the Shadows of Social Media. Doctor of Philosophy in Library and Information Science. Graduate College of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. 932133294 .
  7. News: Roberts. Sarah T.. Researcher Spotlight: Sarah T. Roberts. The human cost of keeping your social media streams clear of offensive material. 28 May 2020. Faculty of Information & Media Studies, Western University.
  8. News: McDonald. John. University News: UCLA professor of information studies named 2018 Carnegie Fellow. UCLA. 25 April 2018.
  9. News: Harmon. Joanie. Sarah T. Roberts Honored with EFF's Pioneer Award for Content Moderation Research. UCLA GSE&IS Ampersand. 31 July 2018.
  10. Matsakis. Louise. How YouTube Uses Mechanical Turk Tasks to Help Train Its AI. Wired. 22 March 2018. en.
  11. Chen. Adrian. The Laborers Who Keep Dick Pics and Beheadings Out of Your Facebook Feed. Wired. 23 October 2014.
  12. News: Fricano. Mike. Who watches out for the watchers?. UCLA. 9 May 2017.
  13. News: Solon. Olivia. Data scandal is huge blow for Facebook – and efforts to study its impact on society. The Guardian. en-GB. 18 March 2018.
  14. News: Hsu. Tiffany. Bumble Dating App Bans Gun Images After Mass Shootings. The New York Times. 5 March 2018.
  15. News: Weill. Kelly. Web's Worst Job? Facebook Hires 3,000 to Watch for Murders So You Don't See Them. The Daily Beast. 4 May 2017. en.
  16. Chang. Clio. Why Urban Dictionary Is Horrifically Racist. The New Republic. 5 July 2017.
  17. Powers. Benjamin. The Human Cost of Monitoring the Internet. Rolling Stone. 9 September 2017. en-US.
  18. News: Pierson. DAvid. Analysis: Mark Zuckerberg built Facebook into a behemoth whose power he underestimates. Los Angeles Times. 25 September 2017. en-US.
  19. News: Madrigal. Alexis C.. The Basic Grossness of Humans. The Atlantic. 15 December 2017. en-US.
  20. News: Weber. Lauren. Seetharaman. Deepa. The Worst Job in Technology: Staring at Human Depravity to Keep It Off Facebook. The Wall Street Journal. 28 December 2017. en-US.
  21. News: The Logan Paul Suicide Video Shows YouTube Is Facing A Crucial Turning Point. BuzzFeed News. en. 2 January 2018.
  22. News: McCreary. Joy. Professor featured in documentary that premiered at Sundance Film Festival. UCLA. en-US. 22 January 2018.
  23. Book: Roberts. Sarah T.. Behind the Screen: Content Moderation in the Shadows of Social Media. 2019. Yale University Press. New Haven. 978-0-300-24531-8. 1103320164.
  24. Gerrard. Ysabel. 2020-03-01. Behind the Screen: Content Moderation in the Shadows of Social Media. New Media & Society. en. 22. 3. 579–582. 10.1177/1461444819878844. 204372481. 1461-4448.
  25. Sobande. Francesca. 2020-08-01. Book Review: Behind the Screen: Content Moderation in the Shadows of Social Media. Convergence. en. 26. 4. 1025–1027. 10.1177/1354856519893355. 212804596. 1354-8565.
  26. News: Brock. David C.. Our Censors, Ourselves: Commercial Content Moderation. Los Angeles Review of Books. 25 July 2019.
  27. Web site: UCLA Center for Critical Internet Inquiry Supported by The Knight Foundation.
  28. Web site: Sarah T. Roberts: NSF Grant to Support Study on Online Content Moderation UCLA GSE&IS Ampersand. 2020-06-08. ampersand.gseis.ucla.edu.
  29. News: Pioneer Awards 2018. Electronic Frontier Foundation. 21 June 2018. en.
  30. News: Ford. Celeste. Carnegie Corporation of New York Names 31 Winners of Andrew Carnegie Fellowships. Andrew Carnegie Fellow. Carnegie Corporation of New York. 25 April 2018. en.
  31. News: Knight . Chris . Jan 13, 2023 . Film review: Backlash will make you angry, and that's good . National Post .
  32. Web site: Caillou . Annabelle . 2022-09-02 . "Je vous salue salope»: «elles vivent comme dans un film d'horreur" . 2023-07-13 . Le Devoir . fr.

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