HUFFINGTON POST – Oct 22 - Christopher Cantwell
never asked to become a moderator of online dating site OkCupid. Many
OkCupid moderators are pulled from the site’s userbase and just six
months after signing up for the singles site. They review posts flagged
by OkCupid users and are tasked with marking the profiles “deleted,”
“left alone” or “can’t tell.” Moderators can see comments from other
moderators and how they ruled on an issue, but not who those moderators
are or what ultimately happened to each of the posts in question.
A: Absolutely nothing. They notified me that I had been made a moderator.
Q: What kinds of things do you see getting flagged?
A: Users can flag a profile and then the
profile gets put into what’s basically a queue for the moderators to go
through. And most of it is kind of frivolous.
Q: It’s remarkable that people have access to private messages, in some cases, and get to weigh in on them.
A: Yes, it is.
Q: What have you learned about people since being a moderator on OkCupid?
A: I’ve learned that people are nitpicking and if they see something they don’t like, they’ll flag it for no good reason.
Q: What’s the strangest thing you’ve seen during your time as a moderator?
A: I’ve seen some nude photos, but I’m no stranger to that, and I’ve seen scammers.
Q: What would you do when you came across something illegal?
A: In the case of child porn, we would contact the FBI.
