Becoming a content reviewer can be a great way to make extra money and gain experience reviewing online content. As more companies rely on user-generated content, the demand for content reviewers continues to grow. Here are some tips on how to get started as a content reviewer.
What is a content reviewer?
A content reviewer is someone who reviews user-generated content on the internet to ensure it meets community guidelines and policies. Content reviewers work for social media platforms, e-commerce sites, crowdsourcing companies, and more to moderate content.
Some common tasks for content reviewers include:
- Reviewing social media posts, comments, images and videos for policy violations
- Evaluating product reviews and listings for accuracy and authenticity
- Checking crowdsourced content like articles or data for quality standards
- Categorizing content using tags or labels
- Providing feedback to content creators
- Documenting policy violations
The work helps ensure sites have safe, useful, and relevant content. Reviewers act as moderators to protect both companies and users from harmful or deceptive material.
What skills do you need?
Successful content reviewers often have:
- Strong communication skills – You need to understand content and explain review decisions clearly.
- Attention to detail – Identifying policy violations requires close examination of content.
- Critical thinking – You must evaluate content objectively to make fair, consistent moderation choices.
- Tech-savviness – You should feel comfortable using websites, apps, content management systems, etc.
- Time management abilities – Content reviewers often need to meet strict deadlines and quotas.
- Teamwork skills – Many reviewers collaborate with others during the moderation process.
Content reviewing also requires being familiar with the specific platform’s content policies and understanding how to apply them consistently.
What are the requirements to become a content reviewer?
While specific requirements vary between companies, here are some typical must-haves for content reviewers:
- 18+ years old
- High school diploma or equivalent
- Computer, internet access, and tech skills
- Good grasp of English grammar and language
- Availability during standard working hours
- Reliability and time management skills to meet deadlines
- Testing may be required to assess skills and abilities
- Content moderation training may be provided
- Sign non-disclosure agreements to protect platform and user privacy
Some companies may require or prefer candidates with a college education, fluency in multiple languages, previous moderation experience, familiarity with internet culture, or other specialized qualifications depending on the role.
How do you apply to become a content reviewer?
Here are some tips for getting hired as a content reviewer:
- Search for content reviewer job openings on platforms like FlexJobs, SolidGigs, Upwork, and LinkedIn. Many have listings under titles like Community Moderator, Reviewer, Social Media Evaluator, etc.
- Check leading crowdsourcing companies like Appen and Lionbridge which hire global online contractors.
- Look for openings on the career sites of major tech companies you want to work with.
- Make sure your resume highlights relevant skills and experience in communication, critical thinking, detail orientation, and using online platforms.
- Emphasize any familiarity with content moderation from past jobs, volunteer work, online communities, etc.
- Perform well on skills testing like grammar quizzes, mock reviews, and other assessments commonly part of the hiring process.
- Highlight your reliability and work ethic to meet deadlines and follow policies.
Many content review jobs are remote, so candidates anywhere may apply as long as you meet the requirements. Entry-level roles provide training too.
What kind of training do content reviewers receive?
Content reviewers usually go through some form of onboarding and training, which may include:
- Overview of content policies – Reviewers study the platform’s community standards and content guidelines in depth.
- Sample reviews – Trainees moderate sample posts, comments or other content and receive feedback on decisions.
- Tools tutorial – New reviewers are taught how to use the company’s content management system and review tools.
- Quality assurance – Reviewers’ work is audited during training until meeting accuracy standards.
- Shadowing – Some reviewers are paired with experienced team members at first.
- Certification testing – Employees may need to pass exams demonstrating understanding of policies.
Training helps reviewers learn how to apply standards objectively, identify violations accurately, use review tools, meet performance metrics, and more.
Many companies provide ongoing education as well to cover new policies and emerging issues. Reviewers may receive regular feedback too. Training often takes between 1-6 weeks depending on the role.
What are the day-to-day responsibilities of a content reviewer?
A typical day-in-the-life for a content reviewer may include:
- Logging into the company’s content management system
- Checking assigned queues of user content to review
- Closely evaluating posts, comments, images, profiles, etc. against policies
- Accurately labeling content violations like hate speech, nudity, spam, etc.
- Removing prohibited content or escalating to supervisors when needed
- Providing ratings on subjective characteristics like quality or relevance
- Adding tags, categories or other metadata to assist searches and recommendations
- Tracking review productivity and accuracy rates
- Reporting new issues or policy questions that require clarification
- Continuing education on emerging content trends and updated guidelines
- Communicating with users clearly and professionally regarding enforcement actions
Reviewers handle high volumes of content so working efficiently under tight time constraints is critical. Most adopt routines to get through hundreds or thousands of items daily.
What are the main pros and cons of being a content reviewer?
**Pros:**
- Work from home – Many content reviewer jobs are remote, offering schedule flexibility.
- Entry-level opportunities – Can break into tech without a specialized degree.
- Gain relevant experience – Build skills in content moderation, quality assurance, data analysis, risk assessment, crowdsourcing management, etc.
- Supplement income – Provides extra money with steady part-time work.
- Career development – Can lead to promotions to supervisor, trainer, policy specialist roles.
**Cons:**
- Repetitive work – Reviewing high volumes of similar content can be tedious.
- Mentally taxing – Constant exposure to objectionable or disturbing material like hate speech, violence, conspiracy theories, etc. can be emotionally draining.
- Limited advancement – Many companies have high turnover and flat organizational structures.
- Irregular hours – Workloads fluctuate causing inconsistent schedules and overtime.
- Stressful metrics – Meeting accuracy and productivity benchmarks is challenging.
Weighing the pros and cons helps determine if content reviewing aligns with your goals, abilities, and preferences. Those comfortable working independently and interested in online communities tend to thrive most.
What is the earning potential as a content reviewer?
Content reviewer salaries vary significantly based on:
- Company and industry
- Job level and experience
- Geographic location
- Employment status (freelance vs. employee)
- Size of team supported
- Languages spoken
According to Glassdoor, average pay tends to range from around:
- $14-$16/hr for entry-level social media moderators
- $18-$22/hr for mid-level content reviewers
- $55,000-$85,000 salary for content policy leads
Top platforms like Facebook and YouTube tend to pay more competitively for in-house roles. Freelance hourly rates on crowdsourcing sites are often toward the lower end but with high flexibility.
Experience level greatly impacts pay as well. With strong performance, long-term content reviewers can move into supervisory roles earning $70,000-$100,000 on average.
What are some alternatives to content reviewing jobs?
If being a content reviewer doesn’t seem like the right fit, related roles to consider include:
- Community manager – Manages official brand social media accounts.
- Customer service – Addresses user questions and complaints.
- Online chat moderator – Monitors live text or audio chats.
- Data entry – Inputs and organizes information.
- Virtual assistant – Provides administrative project support.
- Transcriptionist – Converts speech to text.
- Editing/proofreading – Checks documents for errors.
- Content writing – Creates articles, social posts, product listings.
Many of these roles also involve working online and developing skills in communication, attention to detail, analysis, and meeting tight deadlines.
Consider which opportunities best align with your long-term career goals and interests. With the rise of remote work, there are expanding possibilities to gain experience in online content, community building, moderation, and operations.
Conclusion
Becoming a content reviewer offers an accessible way to get started in the technology sector while working from home. If you have strong communication abilities, a commitment to accuracy, comfort using online tools, and interest in community management, it can be a promising career path. Weigh the pros and cons and requirements to decide if it fits your skills and preferences. With training and effort, content reviewers can gain valuable experience to propel advancement while helping shape safer digital platforms.