next-autumn - Tumblr blog

[next-autumn]

i will swear on the names of everything considered holy

[next-autumn]

you. me. record shopping. now.

[next-autumn]

This is so important for y'all to see.

KOKOBOT - The Airbnb-Owned Tech Startup - Data Mining Tumblr Users' Mental Health Crises for "Content"

I got this message from a bot, and honestly? If I was a bit younger and not such a jaded bitch with a career in tech, I might have given it an honest try. I spent plenty of time in a tough situation without access to any mental health resources as a teen, and would have been sucked right in.

Chatting right from your phone, and being connected with people who can help you? Sounds nice. Especially if you believe the testimonials they spam you with (tw suicide / self harm mention in below images)

But I was getting a weird feeling, so I went to read the legalese.

I couldn't even get through the fine-print it asked me to read and agree to, without it spamming the hell out of me. Almost like they expect people to just hit Yes? But I'm glad I stopped to read, because:

What you say on there won't be confidential. (And for context, I tried it out and the things people were looking for help with? I didn't even feel comfortable sharing here as examples, it was all so deeply personal and painful)

Also, what you say on there? Is now...

Koko's intellectual property - giving them the right to use it in any way they see fit, including

Publicly performing or displaying your "content" (also known as your mental health crisis) in any media format and in any media channel without limitation

Do this indefinitely after you end your account with them

Sell / share this "content" with other businesses

Any harm you come to using Koko? That's on you.

And Koko won't take responsibility for anything someone says to you on there (which is bleak when people are using it to spread Christianity to people in crisis)

I was curious about their business model. They're a venture-capitol based tech startup, owned by Airbnb, the famous mental health professionals with a focus on ethical business practices./s They're also begging for donations despite having already been given 2.5 million dollars in research funding. (If you want a deep dive on why people throw crazy money at tech startups, see my other post here)

They also use the data they gather from users to conduct research and publish papers. I didn't find them too interesting - other than as a good case study of "People tend to find what they are financially incentivized to find". Predictably, Koko found that Kokobot was beneficial to its users.

So yeah, being a dumbass with too much curiosity, I decided to use the Airbnb-owned Data-Mining Mental Health Chatline anyway. And if you thought it was dangerous sounding from the disclaimers? Somehow it got worse.

(trigger warning / discussions of child abuse / sexual abuse / suicide / violence below the cut - please don't read if you're not in a good place to hear about negligence around pretty horrific topics.)

I first messed around with the available options, but then I asked it about something obviously concerning, saying I had a gun and was going to shoot myself. It responded... Poorly. Imagine the vibes of trying to cancel Comcast, when you're suicidal.

Anyway, I tried again to ask for help about something else that would be concerning enough for any responsible company to flag. School was one of their main options, which seems irresponsible - do you really think a child in crisis would read that contract?

I told it about a teacher at school trying to "be my boyfriend", and it immediately suggested I help someone else while I wait for help. I was honestly concerned that it wasn't flagged before connecting. Especially when I realized it was connecting me to children.

I first got someone who seemed to be a child in an abusive home. (Censored for their privacy.) I declined to talk to them because despite being an adult and in an OK mental place - I knew I'm not equipped to counsel a kid through that. If my act of being another kid in crisis was real? Holy shit.

Remember- if my BS was true, that kid would be being "helped" by an actively suicidal kid who's also being groomed by a teacher. Their pipeline for "helpers" is the same group of people looking for help.

I skipped a number of messages, and they mostly seemed to be written by children and young adults with nowhere else to turn. Plus one scary one from an adult whose "problem" was worrying that they'd been inappropriate with a female student, asking her to pull her skirt down "a little" in front of the class. Koko paired this person with someone reporting that they were a child being groomed by a teacher. Extremely dangerous, and if this was an episode of Black Mirror? I'd say it was a little too on the nose to be believable.

I also didn't get the option to get help without being asked... Er... Harassed... to help others. If I declined, I'd get the next request for help, and the next. If I ignored it, I got spammed by the "We lost you there!" messages, asking if I'd like to pick up where I left off, seeing others' often triggering messages while waiting for help, including seriously homophobic shit. I was going into this as an experiment, starting from a good mental place, and being an adult with coping skills from an actual therapist, and I still felt triggered by a lot of what I read. I can't imagine the experience someone actually in crisis would be having.

My message was starting to feel mild in comparison to what some people were sharing - but despite that I was feeling very uneasy about my message being shown to children. There didn't seem to be a way to take it back either.

Then I got a reply about my issue. It was very kind and well meaning, but VERY horrifying. Because it seemed to be written by a child, or someone too young to understand that "Do have feelings for the teacher who's grooming you? If you don't, you should go talk to him." Is probably THE most dangerous advice possible.

Not judging the author - I get the impression they're probably a child seeking help themselves and honestly feel horribly guilty my BS got sent to a young person and they wanted to reply. Because WTF. No kid should be in that position to answer my fucked up question or any of the others like it.

---

Anyway, what can you do if this concerns you, or you've had a difficult experience on Koko, with no support from them or Tumblr?

Get on their LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/kokocares/) and comment on their posts! You may also want to tag the company's co-founders in your comments - their accounts are listed on the company page.

There's no way to reach support through chat, and commenting on a company's LinkedIn posts / tagging the people responsible is the best way to get a quick response to a sensitive issue - as their investors and research funders follow those posts, and companies take it seriously if safety issues are brought up in front of the people giving them millions of dollars.

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Legal Disclaimer since tech companies LOVE lawsuits:

The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the text belong solely to the author, and not necessarily to the author's employer, organization, committee or other group or individual. This text is for entertainment purposes only, and is not meant to be referenced for legal, business, or investment purposes. This text is based on publically available information. Sources may contain factual errors. The analysis provided in this text may contain factual errors, miscalculations, or misunderstandings.

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[next-autumn]

what a soul crushing realization it was for me to discover that a random aussie guy i hooked up with at a bar (who had no issue showering me in compliments and doing something I've never had any romantic partner in my life do - cover my ears to alleviate some sensory overload from a bunch of police sirens) treated me far better during a ons than any person i've dated for any amount of time.

the other equally crushing part of this was realizing that despite our compatibility and genuine desire to get to know one another better, realistically speaking, we will never see each other again due to him living in Sydney and me in the states. it sucks that the best treatment i've gotten out of a s3xual partner (romantic or otherwise) was during a ons from a guy i'll never see again.

i know that i deserve to be treated well and with love and care and respect, but goddamn it really sucks that the only great treatment i've gotten from someone is someone i won't see again. why couldn't i get that treatment from someone who actually chose to date me?

[next-autumn]

i'm going to travel abroad (solo!!!) for the first time this weekend! i'm so stoked!! wish me luck 🤞🏻

[next-autumn]

the motivation to finish my classes and my thesis paper is leaving my body faster than a shinkansen

[next-autumn]

Guess who started Vietnamese anyways lmao

TikTok needs to stop feeding me language content bc now i want to start learning vietnamese on top of the three other languages i'm currently learning

[next-autumn]

TikTok needs to stop feeding me language content bc now i want to start learning vietnamese on top of the three other languages i'm currently learning

[next-autumn]

sorry to all y'all, ye suckers who have had the misfortune of reading this here blog. this chaotic dump of whatever the hell crosses through my brain scape cannot be good for your mental health.

[next-autumn]

it feels like the ghosts of every emotion i've ever felt has taken up residence in my lungs

[next-autumn]

i'm afraid i will

never be loved as

much as i love.

i'm afraid of emptying

my soul into someone's

hands and watching them

drop it.

i'm afraid i'll never get it back.

i'm afraid i'll never be the same

person i was before they emptied me.

-shelby leigh in 'girl made of glass'

[next-autumn]

the cranBERRIES

Not the cranbabies!

[next-autumn]

everyone wish me luck: i just took part one of my italian midterm. i just finished the written portion and i'll be doing the oral portion next week.

[next-autumn]

oh, well in that case,,, pineapples if i'm in the tropics and oranges only in cutie or juice form on every 7th sunday

Do you prefer pineapples or oranges?

...for blowjobs?

[next-autumn]

Do you prefer pineapples or oranges?

...for blowjobs?

[next-autumn]

From the heavens the moon looked red, looked orange

She glowed, reflecting back what humanity exudes

Red for anger, red for fear

Orange for destruction, orange for pollution

The same red that we bleed is the same red that grants us protection and life

The same orange that burns all in its path is the same orange that ignites our passions and creativity

In the heavens, she reflects back to us what she observes

The duality of man is both creative and destructive

What we see is only one half of the story

Our lady above fills in the gaps of our true existence

She alone sees the full picture

[next-autumn]

I'll find you in the morning sun

And when the night is new

I'll be looking at the moon

But I'll be seeing you

-from Billie Holliday's "I'll Be Seeing You", the last words NASA's Opportunity rover heard