What the T&S community needs to hear (in your own words)

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

Last week was Thanksgiving and my birthday, so I'm in a sentimental mood. I'm truly grateful to all of you – especially those of you who respond with ideas, share this newsletter with others, or offer suggestions on what to write next (please keep your questions and comments coming!).

I sometimes feel alone in the work that I do, but then I'm reminded of how many smart, thoughtful, compassionate people are in our community. Our weekly EiM hangout calls have been really energising and have sparked a lot of interesting conversations, some of which I've written about here.

We've got a couple more calls before the end of the year, and then we'll decide if we want to keep going. They're on Fridays at 7am PST / 10am EST / 3pm GMY / 11pm SGT. If you'd like to join us, please let me know at hi@alicelinks.com and I’ll add you to the calendar invite.

In this week's edition, I continue with the theme of community, and finally share the outcome of my TrustCon zine project. Here we go!

— Alice

P.S. I'd also like to take this time to thank Ben, who generously shared his platform with me and who tirelessly edits my writing each week. I'm so grateful to you, Ben!

P.P.S. If you're also grateful to Ben and the work he does, consider becoming a paid subscriber (there's a sale going on now, too!). He's got a lot of plans for EiM in 2025 and your financial support will make that possible.

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

Missed our live fireside chat on building moderation programs with ModSquad? No problem, you can now catch the replay! Join Guillaume Bouchard (CEO, Checkstep) and Izzy Neis (Head of Digital, ModSquad) as they explore:

• Steps to build a scalable, comprehensive moderation program
• How to integrate AI with human oversight effectively
• Key metrics to track success across different platforms
• Making the case for advanced moderation tools to stakeholders

As a bonus, if you’re short on time, you can also get access to a visual summary of the chat to quickly catch up on the key takeaways.

A sneak peak from my TrustCon zine project

I was a punk teenager in the late 90's, and zines were the way that our community shared information, inspiration, and advice with each other.

A zine, for those who aren’t familiar, is a little DIY magazine, usually made by hand and photocopied in small numbers. Back in the day, we had zines about music, of course, but also about activism and mental health and poetry and vegan cooking and everything else under the sun.

I wrote one, of course, and I'd be embarrassed for anyone to see it now. But I am proud of the work that I put into it, and the fact that I was just so... earnest.

I think we need more of that in the world right now. People just putting themselves out there, trying to connect with each other and create community. So at TrustCon this year, I manifested the enthusiastic 17-year-old Alice, and created an old-school zine table:

My question for folks at TrustCon was: What does the T&S community need to hear right now? Participants could write their answer on cards, and I also had an instant camera if anyone felt like taking pictures.

I wanted to capture the feeling of solidarity that happens at TrustCon – for those who weren't there, and also for those of us who might want to tap into that feeling later.

Of course, the T&S community delivered. We got some amazing entries, and now seems like the best time to share these words of encouragement. We're a few months out from TrustCon, the high of spending time together has dissipated, and we're all trying to muster some energy for a new year. Here's some of what our community shared:

Check out the whole zine here for more words of inspiration, and feel free to download it or bookmark it if you need a little serotonin boost in the future.

Huge thanks to my colleagues at PartnerHero — Brittni and Mona — for putting this together, to the Trust and Safety Professional Association for giving us the space to do this project, and to everyone who participated at TrustCon.

Also worth reading

Yes, That Viral LinkedIn Post You Read Was Probably AI-Generated (Wired)
Why? According to this article, over 54 percent of longer English-language posts on LinkedIn are likely AI-generated. It's not surprising, as LinkedIn has a "try writing with AI" prompt, but it's certainly making the space feel less authentic.

Brendan Carr Makes It Clear That He’s Eager To Be America’s Top Censor (TechDirt)
Why? A look into the ideology of the new Chair of the FCC: "Brendan Carr may be the biggest threat to free speech in our government in a long while. And he’s not being shy about it."

Online Content is a Commodity: The Information Value Chain as a Framework for Tackling Disinformation (Tech Policy Press)
Why? A great article looking at the demand-side of disinformation: "some people are not just more likely to consume disinformation but actively seek it out. Many choose to believe information that has been verified as false because it feels true."