Mike Merriman – Online Moderation

Facebook Doubles Down on Content Moderators

Mike Merriman — Fri, 05 May 2017 13:37:14 +0000

Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, you’ve heard the stories of murders and suicides posted on Facebook. In order to keep that type of content away from the public, Facebook has just announced that they will hire an additional 3000 content moderators. This is on top of approximately 4500 current moderators. In a recent post, Mark Zuckerberg said the content moderators will, “help us get better at removing things we don’t allow on Facebook like hate speech and child exploitation.” Additionally he said they’ll work with Law Enforcement to help users, “because they’re about to harm themselves, or because they’re in danger from someone else.”

It’s unclear whether Facebook will hire people or outsource this work. Nor is there any indication where in the world these additional resources will reside. One thing however is certain – with over one billion active Facebook users, and over 5 billion pieces of content shared daily, this is a huge and necessary job. We at Mzinga strongly believe in protecting the public and children specifically, and commend Facebook for the attention they are giving this issue.

The post Facebook Doubles Down on Content Moderators appeared first on Online Moderation.

Social Media Crisis? Take ownership of the issue.

Mike Merriman — Mon, 01 May 2017 14:51:02 +0000

Yup – another airline incident caught on film. This time it was American Airlines flight 591 #AA591. While the incident was deplorable, the good news is that American Airlines got out in front of the backlash. They took ownership of the incident and defused any impending actions by the public. See their almost immediate response. “We have seen the video and have already started an investigation to obtain the facts. What we see on this video does not reflect our values or how we care for our customers. We are deeply sorry for the pain we have caused this passenger and her family and to any other customers affected by the incident. We are making sure all of her family’s needs are being met while she is in our care. After electing to take another flight, we are taking special care of her and her family and upgrading them to first class for the remainder of their international trip.

The actions of our team member captured here do not appear to reflect patience or empathy, two values necessary for customer care. In short, we are disappointed by these actions. The American team member has been removed from duty while we immediately investigate this incident.”

Do you have a Social Media Crisis Plan? Let Mzinga help.

The post Social Media Crisis? Take ownership of the issue. appeared first on Online Moderation.

The first 24 hours in a social media crisis are critical – is United Airlines listening?

Mike Merriman — Mon, 10 Apr 2017 16:35:22 +0000

The first headline I saw in my newsfeed today was “Bloodied Passenger Dragged From United Flight At O’Hare Airport.” Upon reading the story in numerous international publications, I checked various social media channels to learn more about the incident. Not surprisingly #BoycottUnited and #Flight3411 are trending hashtags – and the story doesn’t get better for United the more I read. After last week’s #leggingsgate incident I fully expected to see a concerted effort by United’s team to deal with the chatter. Listen to all the experts – the first 24 hours in a social media crisis are critical. Communications in this phase are the number one priority. A sound communications strategy starts with acknowledging the incident occurred. Next step – apologize – without pointing fingers at people or policy. Finally develop and commit to a plan of action – which may involve holding employees or partners accountable, and changing policies and procedures. The goal here is to understand what happened, prevent it from happening again, and most importantly keep your customers loyal. There’s plenty of noise on social media now calling for United’s head. United has chosen to defend their position with “We apologize for the overbook situation.” This position doesn’t acknowledge the results of the incident, and while they use the word – isn’t an apology.

Don’t be United. Develop a sound Social Media Crisis plan in the event you ever need it. Mzinga can help.

The post The first 24 hours in a social media crisis are critical – is United Airlines listening? appeared first on Online Moderation.

Social Media Crisis costs Target Millions

Mike Merriman — Fri, 07 Apr 2017 16:48:25 +0000

Last April, Target published a blog post highlighting their stance on transgender bathroom policies, and specifically their policy of inclusion. As a result, nearly 700,000 consumers signed a pledge to boycott the store. In the weeks that followed, numerous individuals posted opinions about the policy on various social media channels which went viral. While Target already had this policy in place, the blog post caused a spark and fanned the flames of a social media crisis. Target’s CEO Brian Cornell claims to have found out about the blog post only after the fact and says that while he fully supports the policy, he wouldn’t have approved a post that “flaunts” it. The boycott has cost Target millions and forced them to react by installing or retrofitting single occupancy toilets to the tune of an additional $20M.

Target had taken a stand with their policies which their PR and Communications teams seemingly thought would be newsworthy and a positive refection on their brand. In reality it backfired. Brand protection is more than reacting to a social media crisis. When done properly brand protection is a proactive strategy that avoids backlash and crisis. Contact Mzinga help you determine your brand protection strategy and crisis management plans.

The post Social Media Crisis costs Target Millions appeared first on Online Moderation.

United Airlines in a Social Media Crisis as Twitter blows up over (gasp!!) spandex.

Mike Merriman — Mon, 27 Mar 2017 16:49:37 +0000

United Airlines made headlines over the weekend as a gate agent refused to allow two young girls to board a flight from Denver to Minneapolis because they were “not properly clothed”. The infraction – spandex leggings. The young girls donned other clothing and boarded the plane. The incident was witnessed by Shannon Watts (https://twitter.com/shannonrwatts) founder of Moms Demand Action who pointed out the hypocrisy of allowing men in shorts to board while preventing girls in leggings the same right. Twitter has blown up over this event and drawn many people and activists into the conversation as United has attempted to clarify their position on the event. In short – the girls were not paying customers, but family of United employees flying as “pass fares” and subject to a stricter dress code than the travelling public – which is rather vaguely termed “barefoot or not properly clothed.” Regardless of the facts of the event, United’s actions have brought numerous comments calling for boycott and alleging sexism. To United’s credit they seem to have well defined social media crisis plan – but their position of “we’ve done nothing wrong” seems just to be making the hole bigger.

The post United Airlines in a Social Media Crisis as Twitter blows up over (gasp!!) spandex. appeared first on Online Moderation.

Hate Speech, Free Speech, or a business decision?

Mike Merriman — Tue, 21 Mar 2017 18:51:29 +0000

Many large social media channels are coming under fire for not being “tough on hate speech.” Refer to this recent article in The Guardian – Face-off between MPs and social media giants over online hate speech. In the US, while hate crimes are illegal, the constitution gives a great deal of latitude to hate speech except where it transcends into personal attacks and “fighting words.” The Washington Post has a great piece on this outline the law and relevant statutes.

One embeddable commenting system, Disqus, is facing massive boycotts due to the fact that they power the commenting on Breitbart and many other website forums. Is there an easy answer to this? I’m sure there are two dissenting easy answers depending on where you stand. Where this is no law or statute prohibiting hate speech in commenting systems and forums, the forum owners must define their own policies based on business impacts. Additionally, vendors such as Disqus need to determine the potential impacts of who they do business with.

The post Hate Speech, Free Speech, or a business decision? appeared first on Online Moderation.