Five things I've learned writing this newsletter

I'm Alice Hunsberger. Trust & Safety Insider is my weekly rundown on the topics, industry trends and workplace strategies that trust and safety professionals need to know about to do their job. This week, I'm thinking about:

• What I've learned while writing this newsletter
• I'm hiring! (Plus: a neat resident fellowship opportunity)

Get in touch if you'd like your questions answered or just want to share your feedback. Here we go! — Alice

Today's edition of T&S Insider is in partnership with Checkstep, the all-in-one Trust & Safety Platform

With September around the corner, our inboxes and LinkedIn feeds are buzzing with new and exciting opportunities in Trust & Safety. To save you hours of scrolling, we've compiled an easy-to-navigate visual agenda of all the key events happening this fall and winter.

Whether you're eager to explore the latest in AI moderation or simply want to connect with industry peers, this agenda will help you plan your next few months with ease.

If you're organising a Trust & Safety event and don't see it listed, drop me a line at lara@checkstep.com. I’d love to include it!

Looking back at six months of T&S Insider

First, let’s start with T&S Insider's origin story, and why I decided to start writing it in the first place.

Although I'd been a reader of EiM for years, I hadn't spoken to Ben until we serendipitously met in person at TrustCon 2023. A few months later, I was on LinkedIn lamenting its algorithm and the fact that I never knew if people saw the insights or links I posted there. Although I sometimes had semi-viral hits, it felt random and frustrating. I was considering starting a newsletter but, before I had a chance, Ben invited me to write for EiM. We agreed to do a six-month trial. 

I loved the idea of collaborating — Ben is an experienced journalist and strategist and has an outsider’s eye on Trust & Safety, whereas my perspective comes from years of practice in the field. Writing for EiM means that I also didn’t have to figure out how to set up Ghost or Beehiiv or another newsletter platform, which is tough to figure out and to get right.

And what did I want to achieve in writing for EiM? Well, my goal was three-fold: to continue a dialogue with T&S practitioners that I had started on LinkedIn (but which was mediated by algorithms); to solidify my reputation — and thinking — as a thought leader in Trust & Safety and, most importantly, to serve as a resource for the T&S community. That includes both longstanding practitioners as well as outsiders who are new to the space and keen to know what it’s really like to do this important work. 

It’s been a really fun six months, and I plan on continuing writing T&S Insider. Here’s five things I’ve learned while writing it so far...

It’s ok to state the obvious

It surprised me that some of the most well-received editions of T&S Insider are the ones where I feel like I’m not saying anything new. Take, for example, why misinformation is really hard to solve for.

Why is that? Well, the truth is that there still aren’t many public voices in Trust & Safety, and things that seem obvious to seasoned practitioners are new insights for others. People have also told me that it’s validating for them to read similar perspectives to theirs, and that it helps them feel less alone. I try to write about fresh ideas as often as I can, but it’s good to know that writing about “obvious” things every once in a while can be useful for people too. It’s a good exercise for me too and helps me to cement my point of view. 

We haven’t quite nailed what you like (and don’t like)

T&S Insider has a very steady open rate (always 50% or above) which shows that you trust what I write about (at least I think it does!). The consistency is despite the fact that I write about a really wide variety of things; sometimes career tips, occasional practical guides for T&S practitioners, and also more philosophical musings. It’s good to know that readers are open to the mix of ideas and topics, but it can also make it tough to choose what to write about when there’s not a standout topic. We’re planning do a reader survey to gather more insights but drop me a line if you have any burning questions or big ideas 

Editors are magic (especially Ben)

I’m not a professional writer, and I’ve never had an editor before, so this has been a really fun new experience for me. It’s amazing that I can share a draft of the newsletter and get it back completely covered in redlines, yet the writing still sounds like me. Ben and I chat every Friday about the stories that have caught our eye (let us know if you're interested in joining) and he’s really good at talking through different ways of covering them and helping me to get unstuck. I’ve found our relationship to be immensely valuable, and I’m so glad that we joined forces instead of trying to go it alone. 

Planning is a good thing

I write this newsletter on the weekends, trying to sum up themes I’ve seen in T&S news during the week. Sometimes it’s obvious what to write about but a lot of the time I struggle to figure it out until the last second. I need to improve how I plan so that I have some “evergreen” editions ready to go out during big conferences (like we did during TrustCon) or during slow news weeks. It’s not so much the time commitment that’s  a problem — it’s 3-4 hours total, which I usually try to get done on Saturday mornings — but the responsibility of the task hanging over me. This also means that I can have some weekends off, which would be great.

You can’t rely on organic growth alone 

Most of my focus over the last six months has been on writing, without having specific newsletter growth goals. This is just a fun side gig for me (big thanks to Checkstep for doing the pilot sponsorship of this newsletter and starting to make it sustainable). I didn’t want to add the extra stress of feeling like it had to grow in a certain way or at a certain rate. A small engaged audience is better than a large but disinterested one.

That said, for all the hard work we put into it, I’d like to see more growth than there has been. Ben and I are brainstorming some ideas, and I’m going to try to be more intentional about teasing upcoming editions to try and boost signups. If you’re thinking about writing a newsletter and want to grow quickly, expect to have to put in a lot of work to get there. (Also you should chat to Ben — he’s always looking for new writers for EiM).

Job hunt

Big news: I'm hiring!

The Trust & Safety line of business at PartnerHero is rapidly growing and I'm looking for a Senior Operations Manager, Trust & Safety, to help oversee frontline content moderation teams. This is a hybrid role, mostly work from home, but needing to go into the office 1-2 days a week in Metro Manila, Philippines.

I'm looking for someone with deep operational experience who is great at people management, and who understands the unique needs that Trust & Safety and Content Moderation teams have. If this sounds like a good fit for you or someone you know, please get in touch!

Another interesting job posted recently: the Integrity Institute is hiring an Elections Resident Fellow to research and create reports on elections for the next 3-6 months. This could be a great opportunity if you're between jobs and looking for a bit of temporary stability.

Full disclosure: I've been a Visiting Fellow at the Institute and it was a good experience. However, the Institute has had a leadership shakeup lately and has a new Interim Executive Director, who I haven't spoken to yet.

Also worth reading

Was an AI Image Generator Taken Down for Making Child Porn? (IEEE Spectrum)
Why? I do take issue at the title itself because "Child Porn" indicates consent, which of course is impossible for children. That said, this article by Dave Willner and David Evan Harris is worth a read, and they do use the correct terminology in the article itself. It starts with a disturbing question: "Why are AI companies valued in the millions and billions of dollars creating and distributing tools that can make AI-generated child sexual abuse material (CSAM)?"

Playbook, flashpoint, permanent pox (Links I would Gchat you if we were friends)
Why? A look at the long-term legacy of Gamergate from 18 experts.

Chatbots are primed to warp reality (The Atlantic)
Why? Yet another article about how chatbots can contribute to mis- and disinformation, but this one discusses how the writing tone used by chatbots makes people more likely to believe them.

Gender Identity Debate Videos open for public comment (The Oversight Board)
Why? LGBTQ+ rights are a topic near and dear to my heart, and it's great to see Meta's Oversight Board taking a look at some cases on the topic of gender identity "debate". One issue that is part of this case (that GLAAD has also pointed out) is that there are "public figure" exceptions in Meta's policies, and that harassing posts must be reported by the person themselves, which of course is difficult if you're a public figure being targeted on numerous posts.