Reputation and Shaming on the Social Web

Reputation and Shame You can be defined by your worst moment BoydNeil

2

“Youarenowdefinedbyyourveryworstmoment.Notonlythat,yourveryworstmomentismemorialized.

Eventhoughwe’reallvulnerable,wealsoac@velyenjoyseeingotherscorched...It’safree-for-allwherepeopleandorganiza@onscanbecometargets,andtheydon’thavethepowertodefendthemselves.

Whensocialmediagetgoing,it’snotbalanced.It’salmostuniversally,‘Kill,kill,kill’”—EricDezenhall,quotedinTheGlobeandMail2015

Let’sbeclear...

Context The demos is social

Perspectives H+K Perspectives H+K

Canadians love social

+  TheoverwhelmingmajorityofCanadiansusesocialmediadaily(84%)

+  Women(60%)weremorelikelytobeac@veonsocialmediamul@ple@mesadaycomparedtomen(42%)

51%

33%

7%

3%

6%

Mul@ple@mesaday

Everyday

Onceaweek

Onceamonth

Never

[Q1] How often do you use social media (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Snapchat, etc.)?

Perspectives H+K Perspectives H+K

[Q2] How much of the news you consume comes from social media?

+  Women(44%)aretwiceaslikelytogetatleasthalfoftheirnewsfromsocialmediacomparedto22%ofmen.

+  Canadiansaged35andyoungergetmostoftheirnewsonsocialmedia(35%),morethananyotheragegroup

+  43%ofCanadianswho

usesocialmediamul@ple@mesadaygetatleasthalfoftheirnewsonsocialmedia

19%

44%

13%

21%

3%

None

Someofit

Abouthalf

Mostofit

Allofit

A source of news

Perspectives H+K Perspectives H+K

[Q5] How often have you seen social media posts that “out” people?

+  MostCanadians(69%)haveseensocialmediapoststhat“out”peopleatleastonce

+  Women(76%)aremorelikelythanmen(60%)tohaveseensocialmediapoststhat“out”people

+  YoungerCanadiansaremorelikelytohaveseensocialmediapoststhat“out”people

20%

46%

19%

3%

Never

Onceinawhile

Oben

Allofthe@me

But aware of ‘outing’

Perspectives H+K Perspectives H+K

And aware of negatives

+  ThreequartersofCanadians(75%)seenega@vecommentsatleastsome@mes,tooben

+  ThemajorityofCanadianswhousesocialmediamul@ple@mesaday(82%)seenega@vecommentsatleastsome@mes,tooben

12%

46%

29%

6%

Never

Some@mes

Oben

Always

[Q3] How often do you see what you consider negative comments in your social media feeds?

Perspectives H+K Perspectives H+K

It changes our behaviour

+  NearlythreequartersofCanadianswhousesocialmediaatleastonceaday(73%)keepthemselvesfrompos@ngonsocialmediaatleastsome@mestoavoidbeingseennega@vely

27%

37%

19%

13%

Never

Some@mes

Oben

Allofthe@me

[Q4] How often have you kept yourself from posting something on social media out of worry that it could negatively affect the way other people see you?

Perspectives H+K Perspectives H+K

[Q8] Please indicate whether you agree or disagree with each of the following statements

+  TwothirdsofCanadiansaged55andolder(66%)agreethat“ou@ng”hurtstoomanyinnocentpeople,comparedto46%ofthoseaged35andyounger

+  Twooutofthreere@redCanadians(68%)agreethat“ou@ng”hurtstoomanyinnocentpeople,comparedto51%ofworkingCanadians

19%

35%

28%

29%

54%

37%

"Ou@ng”peopleonsocialmediahurtstoomanyinnocentpeople

Socialmediaisthebestwayforordinaryci@zenstofightbackagainstcorporateandgovernment

injus@ce

Disagree Neither Agree

We aren’t happy about it

People + Organizations Same drivers: Similar strategies

We seem to delight in the unhappiness of others . . .

“Nothingisfunnierthanunhappiness,Igrantyouthat.Yes,yes,it’sthemostcomicalthingintheworld.”

SamuelBecke?

Shaming takes many forms Tone deaf behavior — gotcha

Shaming takes many forms Just no restraint

Shaming takes many forms Structured ‘outing’

Shaming takes many forms It just gets to you sometimes

Shaming takes many forms No sensitivity filter

So . . . can we?

Perspectives H+K Perspectives H+K

[Q6] Which of the following statements about social media “outing” is closest to your point of view?

+  AlmosthalfofCanadians(47%)oppose“ou@ng”onsocialmediacomparedto20%ofthosewhosupportit

+  AthirdofCanadians(33%)saidtheyneithersupportnoroppose”ou@ng”onsocialmedia

+  MostCanadiansover55(55%)oppose“ou@ng”onsocialmedia

+  Mostre@redCanadians(58%)oppose“ou@ng”onsocialmedia

47%

20%

33%

Idon’tsupport“ou@ng”onsocialmediabecauseitisaformofvigilan@smthatgoesagainstbasicprinciplesofourjus@cesystem,suchas“weareinnocentun@lprovenguilty”and“therighttodueprocess”.

Isupport“ou@ng”onsocialmediabecauseitmostlyexposespeoplewhodeserveit,andwhomightotherwisegounno@cedandunpunished.

Neitheroftheabove

Many of us don’t like it

Not a good strategy to hide

Neither can we ‘regulate’ responsibility… Nor ‘socialize’ it out of people

Personally we can: Acknowledge Apologize Accept And sometimes simply refuse to be shamed

February 22, 2016

Companies need similar strategies

Sometimes . . .

Companies—ortheircommunitymanagers—doittothemselves

#hashtag #fail Trying to highjack a hashtag . . .what were they thinking?

Why do they do this shit?

Even emojis can be minefields Apple releases new ‘diverse’ emojis . . . what were they thinking?

But sometimes . . .

Companiesaretargetsforsocialac@vism

Activists use social to ‘shame’ . . . And use hyperbole and distortion

Perspectives H+K Perspectives H+K

+  MostCanadians(58%)requiremorecontextbeforetheydecidehowtoviewthecompany

+  Equalpropor@onsofCanadianssaidtheywouldviewthecompanynega@velyandsaidtheywouldn’tchangetheirviewofthecompany

14%

14%

58%

14%

Itwouldprobablynega@velyinfluencemyviewofthecompany

Itwouldprobablynotinfluencemyviewofthecompany

Itreallydependsonwhatthe“ou@ng”isabout

Idon’tknow

[Q7]WhichofthefollowingstatementsbestdescribeshowyouwouldreactifaseniorexecuHvefromacompanyyoudealwithwas“outed”onsocialmedia?

Benefit of the doubt?

Negative sentiment posted on social by a user that requires a reaction from the company

Social Media Issue

A negative social media issue that is amplified broadly and receives online and offline media attention

Social Media Crisis

Managingrisk

Social risk mitigation requires:

1.  Listening

2.  Knowing social ‘rules’

3.  Not worrying too much about trolls

4.  Understanding the social context

5.  Being willing to make quick decisions

6.  Being comfortable with chaos

7.  Having patience to wait out the worst

8.  Defining clear rules of engagement

Managing an assault

Timeliness

“Dance first. Think later. It’s the natural order.”

Samuel Beckett

Responsiveness (Listen and Inform)

“Words are all we have.” Samuel Beckett

Remove Offense

“Out, damn’d spot! Out, I say!—One; two: Why, then ‘tis time to do’t”

Macbeth, Shakespeare

Sincerity, Honesty, Apology

“The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.”

As You Like It, Shakespeare

“Never ruin an apology with an excuse.”

Benjamin Franklin

Address Misinformation

“In the landscape of extinction, precision is next to godliness.”

Samuel Beckett

Commit to a fix

“Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.”

Samuel Beckett

Be human

“The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars but in ourselves.”

Julius Caesar, Shakespeare

39

“Whoneedspoetrywhenyouhavemockery?NotTrumpandnotCruz,whoarebothproductsofthesetex@ng,twee@ng@mes,fluentinthesnarkandvitriolthatappealtoshortagen@onspansandfitin140-characteroutbursts.

—FrankBruni,“ObnoxiousnessistheNewCharisma”,NewYorkTimes,January9,2015

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