The Law of Libel: Internet professionals of the UK Unite!

After a stay at the world’s weirdest hotel I found myself stalking the streets of Whitehall last week as I tried to locate a room filled with lawyers, barristers, journalists and campaigners, all gathered to debate the Draft Reform for the Law of Libel and Defamation.

I took to my seat and eagerly awaited the opening remarks from our Chairman for the day, the Rt Hon the Lord Fowler, and as the first speaker took to the stage I realised I was in the presence of some very forward-thinking and smart people.

First up, Professor Gavin Phillipson, Professor of Law at Durham University, who is a smart and impassioned expert in his field, and his keynote ran through the basics of the current Draft Bill. He reminded everyone present that the main problem with law is that “Law is made up of words, and words are open to interpretation”.  He couldn’t have summarised the issues publishers and lawyers face with the Law of Libel any clearer.  And it was his words which resonated for me even after the day had finished because I see this every day in what I do as community manager.  A great number of the complaints I receive from members are because they perceive they have been personally attacked, or they perceive that they have been offended by what other members write.  It is their interpretation of what has been said which matters to them, and becomes one of the hardest things I have to manage.  It comes back to that beautiful nuance of being human: one man’s rubbish is another man’s treasure, and one man’s joke is another man’s insult.

Anyway, I digress.  The day moved on through various speakers and panel debates, and one thing which became clear to us all was that the Draft does not go far enough to clarify terms like ‘substantial harm’, and it does not do anything to combat the fact that libel is a law for the wealthy: there is no legal aid for libel law suits, and libel law suits run into the thousands, meaning that the common man has no protection from this law if they are publically defamed.  Furthermore, defendants still have a worry about astronomical costs in the event of a loss in court, and this is often enough to silence people and publishers from speaking out about the misdemeanours of people and corporations.  So the costs act as a form of censorship, and the costs restrict access to justice.

Lord McNally said there needed to be more open consultation on matters relating to this law and the internet and insisted this was not a “cop out” response.  He admitted they had faced the same dilemma while thrashing out the Communications Bill.  The dilemma is still ‘how to legislate for the internet’, and there are massive benefits of freedom for the internet, and this freedom should not be reined in or curtailed at the behest of any law. However, finding a balance between freedom of speech and the right for a person to protect their reputation remains difficult when it comes to what is published on the internet, particularly for secondary publishers such as us at Sift Media.

Libel in the internet age should strengthen and support the position of publishers, but it should also strengthen and protect free expression.  The terms ‘freedom of speech’ and ‘freedom of expression’ are often bandied around by internet bullies and serial forum rule breakers whenever they are moderated or reprimanded for misconduct.  And actually the law has to protect people – the common man – against attacks from such people, and the law has to protect secondary publishers in the event a case of libel is brought against them.  And for us as secondary publishers presently there is no real safe harbour; this is of grave concern and in my opinion the current Draft does not go far enough to create a safe harbour for us.

In every takedown request I get from a person or company I have to act as judge and jury and at present I could be sued even though it is a dispute between two individuals.  I cling on to what is known as ‘innocent dissemination’ with my life, but at Sift our interpretation of this is that we only hold this position until such a time as we intervene of our own accord or that a complaint is made.  Once I make any edits or have to contact any members about the content of their posts, we then kick over into the Pre-Action Protocol for Defamation.  Whoever has made the potentially defamatory comment must be willing and able to evidence their claims and be prepared to do so in a court of law.  If they are not, the comments are removed, and in most cases this is what happens because first of all people want to protect their identity and furthermore, as was highlighted by the trip to Whitehall, the common man cannot afford to be involved in a libel case.  I often think this a shame when I get a gut feeling that the original poster has posted about an experience they had with a particular company in order to warn others, and even though it appears a fair and accurate portrayal of their experience they are thwarted by the threat of libel.

There was not enough time in the day to hear from all the people in the room, and it was a shame: it’s quite one thing to hear from the minsters instrumental in drafting and consulting on this Bill, but here was a room of roughly 200 law and media practitioners whose daily lives are affected by whatever happens to this legislation.

I was intoxicated and energised by what had been discussed and I felt as though I was part of something important: democracy in action.  Lord McNally reminded us that there is “ample opportunity for all interest groups to contribute to the Draft” and that we are now getting into the phase which will eventually lead to legislation.  McNally claimed to be a firm believer in pre-legislative scrutiny and that it is a “very healthy way of law making”.  He said that this process is normally given 12 weeks, but by special request borne from necessity of the complexity of these issues, an extension has been granted until October this year.  McNally hopes that the new Draft will make an appearance in the Queen’s Speech and that it will eventually enter the statute sometime in 2012.  Until then, grab your democratic right with both hands and exercise it: if you have something to say about the Draft Bill then say it here: http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/joint-select/draft-defamation-bill1/news/call-for-evidence/

Read Full Post »

If only every conflict resolution started and ended like this…

My life as a community manager often throws up some interesting insight into people, and sadly more often than not what I see is the darker side of folk; people who think they are outside of the rules or who just don’t have any basic social skills or manners. But today, one such disgruntled member took an inventive and humorous approach to getting my attention.

Here’s the back story: I did delete one of his posts; it had been reported, I agreed that it was indecent, and I deleted it. It is not policy to contact each member once a post has been deleted, this would take an age. I also did overlook his private message, and as such, he took to our feedback forum and posted thus:

“Dear Admin,

When you first joined this forum things where great between us, we laughed, we joked, we frolicked together in cyberland without a care in the World. We teased you about your Blue Peter badge and your silly Christmas hat and you were there for us when we needed a shoulder to cry on. All the times you’ve changed peoples usernames, whilst smiling beguilingly, we knew you loved us.

Do you remember not long after you joined us, how you helped me?

A nasty man on here (I see you’ve allowed him to stay, do you smile at him too!) started phoning my clients from the testimonials on my website, you went right through the whole forum with me, holding my hand, whilst we deleted every last mention of my website, together! Now look, look what’s happened to us?? You delete my posts without explanation, you don’t answer my messages, you ignore me on open forum!! My heart sinks, to think of how we were, how we could be, is there anything left for us??

When I was 8 years old, Admin, I had a pet hamster called George. George was a lovely pet, cute, fluffy and loyal, we would cuddle together and I would pick the fleas off him and keep him nice and clean. One day after cleaning his cage out and feeding him peanuts as a little treat, I was tickling his belly, he liked that. George turned and bit my finger!! Well I can tell you, I was shocked but I didn’t hesitate, I knew exactly what to do, I smashed that rodents head against the wall and gave him to the neighbour’s cat!

After this I got a goldfish.

Please Admin, don’t be George.

Yours truly
Despondent Forumite.”

Oh how I laughed out loud! And duly responded:

“Hi Despondent Forumite

First of all, thank you for the kind letter – very amusing and brought several tears to both my eyes, not just the one which is usually predisposed to weeping at emotional or humorous moments, so well done you! Incidentally, I was being introduced to a new member of staff just at this moment, who now either thinks I am mental or that he made me cry for some reason.

Anyway, to get to the matter of deleting your post (and apologies for missing your PM, I was not deliberately ignoring you, I like you too well to do that [wink emoticon]). Your post was reported by another member who suggested that you were condoning and inciting illegal activity. I agreed with them, and so it was that it came to pass your comment was deleted. You were not singled out, I was not having a bad day, and I have not forgotten about all our good times together (and many more to come hopefully), but I did think the geezer had a point. So, sorry about that.

Hug?”

This prompted a closing response of:

“Hi,

Thank you, of all the ‘hall monitors’ you are by far my favourite and I will luv you forever and ever. Would you like a peanut??

[blow kiss emoticon]

It wasn’t the deleting of my post, sometimes my posts do fly a little close to the knuckle and if BCU didn’t like my post, that’s fine. But when you didn’t reply I thought you didn’t luv me anymore!!

[Mr Man-esque stretched arm hug emoticon]”

If only every disgruntled member could write like this and be so self aware, my community manager world would be a much prettier and funnier place to be.

Thanks, Despondent Forumite, you made my week! And yes, I would like a peanut.

Read Full Post »

From the archives: The toxic online blend

Why does all sense and reason go out of the window when it comes to being your virtual self? It’s like that advert for Axa insurance which says “You wouldn’t behave this way on foot so why would you do it when you’re driving?” Something happens to people when they don’t have to look someone in the eye or listen to their voice – they forget all the manners their parents taught them, they forget that every action has a reaction, and they forget to apply those behaviour filters that are developed over time to enable people to interact sensibly and rationally with each other. You know the ones, where you think a joke is funny but you are aware that it is slightly racially charged or sexually connotative, so you know not to tell it in public or to a group of people you have only just met. That’s your humour filter. Similarly, it helps you filter out all those jokes you do hear that aren’t funny and slightly offensive; the humour filter allows you not to react to it and just get on with your life safe and happy in the knowledge that the person who told it will most likely never marry or spawn and will eventually die out.

However, stick a screen between two people and some indeterminable geographical distance, give them anonymity and away they descend into pre-pubescent mudslinging, only with a dangerous mix of a learned vocabulary, a lifetimes worth of personal experience and prejudice, and some knowledge in their academic field. I’ve learned this week that this combination is a toxic reaction to the fusion of community members in the virtual world. Actually that’s wrong, I learnt this a while ago, but this week has been particularly filled with toxic moments or pure idiocy and malice in two of my communities this week.

I’ve had it all from various members this week, including lots of virtual stamping of feet in the form of ‘I don’t like what you did there, but instead of say that I’m going to threaten to withdraw from participating in your community’ and lots of noise in the form of private messages telling me ‘I told you so, didn’t I? Didn’t I tell you so?’ I’ve even had an offended member launch an attack on Twitter calling me toxic and accusing me of being on a power trip because I deleted their post, a post which was outside the rules.

We’ve also been stunned by the belief of two cohort members who had set up a private discussion group that we as the site owners wouldn’t have access to it! I mean come on; did they really think that we wouldn’t be able to see the group given that it’s on our platform? The mind boggles.

But what I am most surprised about as this week draws to a close is people’s inability to be reasonable, compassionate and forgiving as they hide behind their avatars. Each time I see a debate descend into utter madness I imagine the offending members sat in the pub and I wonder if they would be reacting to each other in the same way as they do online, and the short answer is no, of course they wouldn’t! When you look into someone’s eyes you can see the person inside, you can gauge their current age and make reasonable assumptions about what kind of life they might have had. You can hear the sound of their voice and listen to the intonation and true intention of what they say; this gives you an understanding of what they really mean and aids informed conversation. But strip all those other signals away and you’re left with miles of room for misunderstanding and a sure-fire scenario where people get pissed off and sound off.

I wonder at the beginning of each week what will happen next in the communities, shortly followed by the realisation that it will be the same debates centring round the same few members and will almost definitely result in at least one threat of legal action and some form of moderation by the end of the week.

So as the Axa ad seeks experienced drivers, I too am putting out a plea – ‘experienced human beings wanted online’.

Read Full Post »

BrisTwestival Local is shaping up nicely

This is the third year I’ve been on the organising team for Twestival in Bristol. I don’t know why I do it; I sign up to help and then spend the best part of a month frantically trying to create an event out of thin air, stressing and panicking when things don’t happen immediately, and then continue to stress and panic until about 11pm on the night when virtually everything is done, everyone is having a good time and I can finally relax. At this point I usually find that I’ve had far too much to drink and should not be in charge of anything anymore! Right now though, I am charged with organising the raffle and the bands.

What with my adventures with my Meerkat last week, I couldn’t do much for BrisTwestival, and lead organiser and friend Dan Martin and I sat down and talked roughly through what we really needed to do. I think I’ve already said at least three times this year “Why did we sign up to do this AGAIN?”

But as has happened in the previous two years, once one thing happens other things happen, and it gradually picks up some momentum. This week I’ve gone from no raffle prizes to about eight confirmed, including an iPad2 donated by my employers Sift. I’m hoping this will be the lure for people to buy raffle tickets on the night. Last year’s raffle was astonishing and raised over a grand in ticket sales! A phenomenal achievement I hope to replicate this year.

We started the week with no bands confirmed, and now we have Pieman Beatbox & Temple Circus warming up for Dub Mafia. I could not be more excited! What a fantastic way to showcase the diversity Bristol still has to offer long after the legacy of local pioneers such as Massive Attack and Portishead.

I’m thrilled again at how much people are willing to offer for free, and how open and friendly people are sharing their contacts. Bristol – you really do warm my heart with your support. I cannot thank you enough.

So why do we do it? So far in the three years we’ve been doing this we have raised over £7,000 for various charities and thrown two very exciting parties which have played host to some great musical talent and been enjoyed by over 400 people at two great local venues.

If you want to get involved in any way then please drop me a message here or via Twitter @Reeb1981.

Read Full Post »

Want to be part of something big?

We’ll keep this brief; we know you are busy trying to run a business.

We’re organising an event to raise money for local charity The Rainbow Centre.

It’s part of a global fundraising effort happening in over 160 cities on Thurs 24^th March 2011.

Our night will play host to bands, DJs and a raffle.

We’re looking for local business to support the raffle by donating a prize or two in return for free promotion in the run up to the event.

This is the third year our voluntary team have taken on this challenge; last year we raised nearly £6,000 for Concern Worldwide. We’d like to get a similar result for our charity this year.

It’s that simple, that’s all you need to know to decide if you can and want to help us.

If you would like to help us, then please contact me, Becky Midgley:

07988 030104

Reeb@hotmail.co.uk

@Reeb1981 on Twitter

Thank you so much!

And if you do want more information, visit these websites:

Our charity – http://www.rainbowcentre.org.uk/

Our event – http://bristol.twestival.com/

Twestival global – http://www.twestival.com/

And for a video posted by one of our raffle winners from last year (and a giggle) – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2dNEaW-490

Read Full Post »

How many forum members does it take to change a lightbulb?

I’m not sure where this originated from, and I know it has done the rounds a few times and is quite old now, but some days I need reminding of a reasonable level of perspective being a community manager, and this does it for me so I am immortalising it here in my own blog.

I wish I could credit the author, so if anyone knows where it came from please do comment.

How many forum members does it take to change a lightbulb?

1 to change the light bulb and to post that the light bulb has been changed

14 to share similar experiences of changing light bulbs and how the light bulb could have been changed differently

7 to caution about the dangers of changing light bulbs

1 to move it to the Lighting section

2 to argue then move it to the Electricals section

7 to point out spelling/grammar errors in posts about changing light bulbs

5 to flame the spell checkers

3 to correct spelling/grammar flames

6 to argue over whether it’s “lightbulb” or “light bulb” … another 6 to condemn those 6 as stupid

2 industry professionals to inform the group that the proper term is “lamp”

15 know-it-alls who claim they were in the industry, and that “light bulb” is perfectly correct

19 to post that this forum is not about light bulbs and to please take this discussion to a lightbulb forum

11 to defend the posting to this forum saying that we all use light bulbs and therefore the posts are relevant to this forum

36 to debate which method of changing light bulbs is superior, where to buy the best light bulbs, what brand of light bulbs work best for this technique and what brands are faulty

7 to post URLs where one can see examples of different light bulbs

4 to post that the URLs were posted incorrectly and then post the corrected URLs

3 to post about links they found from the URLs that are relevant to this group which makes light bulbs relevant to this group

13 to link all posts to date, quote them in their entirety including all headers and signatures, and add “Me too”

5 to post to the group that they will no longer post because they cannot handle the light bulb controversy

4 to say “didn’t we go through this already a short time ago?”

13 to say “do a Google search on light bulbs before posting questions about light bulbs”

1 forum lurker to respond to the original post 6 months from now and start it all over again.

Absolutely spot on in my experience!

Read Full Post »

BrisTwestival time again! Update – we’ve chosen our charity!

I can’t believe how quickly time flies the older I get! But, believe it or not, it’s that time of the year again – BrisTwestival time!

What with everything that’s going on in the world at the moment, and indeed here in Great (shafted-by-the-government) Britain, I couldn’t think of a better time or reason to commit myself once again to helping out with this year’s Local Twestival event.

This year BrisTwestival will be supporting @RainbowCentre. In a nutshell, The Rainbow Centre “provides free and professional support to children and their families affected by bereavement, life threatening illness and cancer.” For more information about this wonderful charity, visit their website here. But it’s worth noting that these guys rely on charity donations for 100% of their income, so please be generous with your support on this one Twestivalers!

So, the team are back together and on it again, and for my sins I’ve taken on the raffle again! So here’s my appeal:

1. Visit all the links above if you don’t know what Twestival is all about and get involved how ever you can, wherever you are – there is likely to be an event somewhere near you.
2. If you are local to me, Bristol, then think about how you can help – we are still trying to find a venue, tweet us your venue ideas @BrisTwestival.
3. Donate prizes for the raffle. Last year’s raffle really boosted our funds thanks to some amazing contributions from @MyCelebFashion, @HyperlaunchDMG, @Crystal_Jewels1, @FishersBristol, @DarkBunnyTees, @Trunki, @TrewthowansDairy, @BristolHippodrome and @Guide2Bristol among others! So thanks be to them for helping us raise £6,000 last March.
4. Buy a ticket for the event when they go on sale soon!

It really could not be simpler.

Venue still to be confirmed, but it will be in the centre somewhere on Thursday 24th March.

Read Full Post »

The season of goodwill and mediating for harmony

One of the toughest things I do in my capacity as a community manager is moderate a thread which has turned sour. Why is it so tough? Because the comments have already been posted and read by any number of members and guests, and because I constantly feel like I am chasing my tail, mopping up the mess that has already been made while another mess is no doubt being made elsewhere.

I had no training to take on this role, it was just considered that I had the right acumen and a temperate personality to tackle the challenges faced by a community manager. So I’ve paid attention to my peers, I’ve lurked in many a forum and watched masters at work, I’ve also read more blogs on this stuff than I care to consider! But nothing really prepares you for feeling like a failure and feeling like you’re letting people down when things do go wrong.

I have to remind myself: you can’t please all the people, all the time. But this is rarely enough to circumvent the self-doubt one feels after imposing strict moderation. I question everything I do; I read and re-read threads three or four times to check context and examine posts in isolation, looking for the turning point, the catalyst which makes good members go bad. It’s a time-consuming task, and when the members go, they really go!

The constant quest to address the needs of the wider community against complaints of unfair moderation and cyber bullying certainly keeps me on my toes, but it pains me to watch things unfold, to lay witness to people expressing the very worst of themselves under the guise of a pseudonym. I’ve had members liken each other to ‘rapists’, ‘fleas’, and many more undesirable labels. But looking at one post, or even one thread in isolation, does not a good decision-maker make. People should be judged on the reputation they develop, their contribution to the community over time and not just on a bad day. But perhaps I am too lenient, and proffer too much professional respect to my members, some of whom tend not to take what I do for a living seriously, and therefore rarely return the favour.

I also make the mistake of expecting people to behave rationally and considerately all the time. It does upset me when people fail to see beyond the end of their own nose and charge on with their crusade despite my pleas for calm and harmony. It tempers my faith in the human race, and reveals to me how short-sighted people can be at times.

This all sounds very doom and gloom doesn’t it! Rest assured that I love my job; I love the communities I am a part of, and remarkably I love the members too, which is why I think I take it to heart some days. If you ask any community manager what skills they should posses to be successful in this role, there will be a resounding call of ‘thick skin’. And this I do have, but in the back of my mind, and after every decision made, is the voice which cries out: Was that the right thing to do?

I’m going to do the online equivalent of fluttering my eyelashes next and appeal to them: It’s Christmas for crying out loud! Goodwill to all men, and all that jazz. But even if this works, and I have my doubts it will, I can only use this one for the next three or four weeks.

Read Full Post »

What really makes a community member tick?

I’m looking at a whole host of different online communities and forums, some more successful than others, and asking ‘what makes the members tick?’. What encourages them to get involved (from lurker to active member) and perhaps more importantly what encourages them to come back? Is it down to an individual, their personality and habits? Or is it genuinely a case of if you build it (right) they will come?

The B2B portfolio I work on hosts a series of professional websites which aim to be the ‘one-stop shop for all your professional needs’ including editorial and community. I note that our accountancy website is our most active, has the most loyal members who participate frequently, and of course drags up the most controversy from time to time. In contrast, our community for customer relationship (CRM) professionals has the lowest number of active members and very few who frequently return and comment. The main differences between the two? Age and subject. The design and functionality are exactly the same.

So are accountants more open to the concept of participating in an ‘online community’ than CRM professionals? If I’d been asked this without any knowledge of these two communities I would have said ‘no’. Accountants have a reputation for being traditionalists and of shying away from new technologies. CRM professionals on the otherhand are keen to embrace new and emerging technologies. These assumptions are certainly not reflected in our stats.

I’ve asked my followers on Twitter which communitites they are involved with and why they enjoy them with a view to finding out what grabs and retains their attention. One of my Tweeps came back to announce “I was a member of romulation. Now I’m all about GBAtemp. And 4chan on bad days.” This statement alone implies he has taken a journey, an evolution if you like, through at least three different gaming communities. His rationale for returning: “romulation and gbatemp are because I enjoy DS hacks, and the fact the scene is ever moving means I come back for more, 4chan is because I like to laugh at the hive mind (I only lurk there)”.

After thanking him for his insight, he replied: “haha its not an insight really! I’m geeky, and thus I flock to geeky things. I’m not too good at participation”. Is this therefore the key to it all? The answer I seek; the Holy Grail of pinning down what makes a community successful or not.

Part of what I do here is keep watch on all user-generated content and of course moderate anything which is not suitable. But after nearly a year in this role, I’m starting to think about revolutionising things round here, and I cannot do that without first understanding the real difference between all the communities on our patch and of course the variety of personalities therein.

I’m thinking about my own consumption and participation: the places I like to virtually hang out and share my thoughts and intrigues. These of course include social networking sites Facebook (although I am falling out of love with it), Twitter (my daily addiction) and LinkedIn (because I think I have to), but when it comes to actual ‘communities’, I pop in and out of the multitude of aliases I have created as and when I need something from them. The travel forum I visit for obvious reasons, the writers forums where I lurk but don’t yet feel I have anything of value to add, and a number of others which only come to memory when I receive a newsletter from them. I do not consider myself what is known as a ‘brand advocate’ for any of them.

So I’m left wondering, have we simply reached a point where as a consumer our online presence is so vast and far-reaching we simply do not have the time to participate to the level sought and expected by the publishers? And as a publisher, what can be done to address this and offer a unique level of integration and value? I guess this last question is not the Holy Grail itself, but that which is contained within the Chalice.

Read Full Post »