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A Novel
by Elaine Castillo
Book Reviewed by:A bold and inventive novel about real romance in the virtual workplace—bringing Castillo's trademark wit and sharp cultural criticism to an irresistible story about the possible future of love.
Girlie Delmundo is the greatest content moderator in the world, and despite the setbacks of financial crises, climate catastrophe, and a global pandemic, she's going places: she's getting a promotion. Now thanks to her parent company Paragon's purchase of Fairground—the world's preeminent virtual reality content provider—she's on the way to becoming an elite VR moderator, playing in the big leagues and, if her enthusiastic bosses are to be believed, moderating the next stage of human interaction.
Despite the isolation that virtual reality requires from colleagues, friends, and family, the unbelievable perks of her new job mean she can solve a lot of her family's problems with money and mobility. She doesn't have to think about the childhood home they lost back in the Bay Area, or history at all—she can just pay any debts that come due. But when she meets William Cheung, Playground's wry, reticent co-founder (now Chief Product Officer) and slowly unearths some of his secrets, and finds herself somehow falling in love, she'll learn that history might be impossible to moderate and the future utterly impossible to control.
Girlie wouldn't say she likes her job, but she certainly doesn't hate it. As a moderator for social media site Reeden, she's part of a team tasked with determining which flagged posts need to be removed—which means she witnesses countless images of horrific assaults every day. It would be enough to make someone want to quit instantly, and in fact, over the years many of her coworkers have. But at this point, Girlie's grown numb to what she's seeing and has no plans to leave. The pay is enough for her portion of the mortgage on the Las Vegas house she shares with her extended family, and it's mostly mindless work. Although she's only in her thirties, she's already given up on any desire to climb the corporate ladder—until an unusual opportunity lands in her lap. The novel's depiction of technology is multifaceted. VR enables Girlie to have the emotional breakthrough that therapy never could. By the end of the novel she is a changed person—still devoted to her family, but also ready to take charge of her own future. Yet in her work, Girlie sees the worst that the tech field has to offer, from the sort of corporate greed that enables the mistreatment of contract workers to the widespread sharing of vile, abusive material. Though the highly advanced VR tools in the book are speculative, the story is realistic in how it portrays emerging technology's potential to amplify both positive and negative experiences...continued
Full Review
(838 words)
(Reviewed by Jillian Bell).
In Elaine Castillo's novel Moderation, content moderators working for a virtual reality platform are assigned to undergo mandatory VR therapy. This can look like meditation on a beach for employees experiencing general stress or standing on top of Big Ben for those afraid of heights. For Girlie, the book's protagonist, this therapy looks like finding empowerment in the form of VR swimming lessons. While parts of the novel's VR technology are speculative (the ability to taste food in VR is sadly not a reality yet), virtual reality is already being used for therapy in the real world—and signs point to its effectiveness.
The primary use of VR for mental health is exposure therapy. This involves exposing the client to ...
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