(Quinn Nachtrieb • The Student Life)
Social Media companies aim to promise greater safety and security through the function of flagging and reporting posts. The remaining question is where does content go to be reviewed and who has the power to decide what is harmful for everyone? We Had to Remove This Post by Hanna Bervoets investigates this inquisition by writing about the life of content moderators.
Totaling ninety-three pages, We Had to Remove This Post is an addictive read to be finished in a matter of hours. The novella opens with a punch “So what kind of things did you see?”. This opening sentence grasped me right from the beginning, and I buckled up for the impending world of disturbing chaos.
The protagonist is Kayleigh, a content reviewer at an ambiguous social media company named Hexa. In her role, she must evaluate flagged posts and determine whether they should be reposted as before, remain on the site with warnings, or be completely removed. As expected, the content she sees quickly becomes sickening and graphic.
The tension in the book derived from the underlying plot of a lawsuit against Hexa. In the novella, it is revealed that past employees are suing the company due to mental abuse. The leading lawyer on the case is Mr. Stitic who is seeking to discover: What went on at Hexa? Additionally, Kayleigh refuses to aid in going against the company, immediately making her a fascinating character. For me, this premise made the entire book feel like the unveiling of a major secret. With each page turn, I was desperate for more.
Within the first few chapters, the problematic content being reviewed and resulting mental deterioration becomes alarmingly present. One example of this is one of Kayleigh’s coworkers struggling to determine whether a video of two dead kittens should be removed. The debate surrounds whether the content could be counted as animal abuse as the cats are already dead. Such experiences occur repeatedly throughout a single day for each of the workers.
“Totaling ninety-three pages, “We Had to Remove This Post” is an addictive read to be finished in a matter of hours.”
The mental deterioration becomes adamantly clear when in an adjacent building construction workers are fixing the roof. Many of the Hexa employees automatically assume that the men are planning to commit suicide. This assumption is not only horrific and devastating but also a demonstration of the catastrophic influence the content has on their minds.
One aspect of the novella that I found interesting was the exploration of Kayleigh’s personal life. Throughout the book, she has three romantic relationships. The first one is with a woman named Barabra who devastates Kayleigh by wanting to bring in a third. The second is with Yena who is manipulative and leeches off of her. The third is Sigrid who is a coworker described as having an irresistible air of coolness.
Her encounters with Sigrid begin as hook-ups at the office and soon morphs into an emotional relationship. As the novel progresses, their work takes a deeper toll on their mental health. Sigrid loses the ability for emotional capacity and Kayleigh becomes overbearingly obsessive over their relationship. When Sigrid changes her shifts post-breakup, Kayleigh begins showing up to work at odd hours and stalking the building in hopes of reconnecting.
I found the constant turbulence and obsession in Kayleigh’s relationships to be a brilliant mirror of romance in the modern day. Social media has perpetuated the idea that there is always someone better out there yet simultaneously one is supposed to stay with their soulmate.
Unfortunately, the climax of the novella fell short for me and was immensely melodramatic. This moment occurs when the workers are on break and their varying opinions lead them to have a blow-out. The group Kayleigh is amidst consists of a flat-earther, a Jewish person and anti-semites. In my opinion, the argument felt trite and unjustified in the problematic language that the characters used.
Nonetheless, in totality, this book was a unique and exceptional read. My review airs on the more positive side of a vast debate over the quality of the novella. Members of GoodReads, a book review platform, and others on TikTok share a common complaint that the book was not disturbing enough. However, I would argue that finding the story to be lacking in edge demonstrates how desensitized social media has made us. I believe this was exactly the author’s intention.
The book was originally written in Dutch in 2021 by Hanna Bervoets and later by Emma Rault to be published in English on May 24, 2022. This petite yet immensely jarring story continues to wander in my mind. In a world dominated by social feeds and artificial intelligence, We Had to Remove This Post increasingly becomes our own reality.
Caroline Kelly (PO ’27) is from Boston, Massachusetts. Her ideal afternoon involves reading and cold brew.
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