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Oct. 26, 2023

EP 449: The Most Undervalued Skill of the 21st-Century Economy

EP 449: The Most Undervalued Skill of the 21st-Century Economy

This is the penultimate episode of Strange New Work, a special series from What Works that explores the future of work through the lens of speculative fiction.

What's the most undervalued skill of the 21st-century economy? Moderation.

I very well might be forgetting something. But with more of our lives and work showing up online every day, the way our feeds, data, and connections are moderated is critical to our daily lives. Moderation can be many things—it's how platforms are designed, how content is incentivized or de-incentivized, and how communication between people is mediated. Some moderation is done structurally, some is done with code, but lots of moderation is done by real people all over the world.

In this episode, I take a close look at the skill of moderation, its role in our evolving tech futures, and the politics that complicate this essential work.

Footnotes:

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