Social Media Roundup - Protesters, Imposters and Unofficial Presences
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Social Media Roundup Protesters, Imposters and Unofficial Presences How to effectively respond to social media abnormalities
description
This week’s Social Media Roundup examines the appropriate ways to respond to organized social media protests, fake social media accounts and social media imposters. In today’s social media environment, it's not uncommon for groups to protest on an organization’s Facebook page. It is also not uncommon to come across fake organization pages, or imposter Facebook profiles and Twitter accounts, so it's important to know how to properly address social media misuse and know how to respond to protests or report transgressions.
Transcript of Social Media Roundup - Protesters, Imposters and Unofficial Presences
Social Media Roundup
Protesters, Imposters and Unofficial Presences
How to effectively respond to social media abnormalities
Social Media Roundup
AgendaThis week’s Social Media Roundup examines the appropriate ways to respond to organized social media protests, fake social media accounts and social media imposters.
Introduction Organized protests Imposter accounts Unofficial presences Protective measures Reporting resources
Social Media Roundup
Introduction In today’s social media environment, it is not uncommon for
groups to protest on an organization’s Facebook page. It is also not uncommon to come across fake organization pages, or imposter Facebook profiles and Twitter accounts.
While these actions are not necessarily against the law, they occasionally violate the user agreements of the social media platforms.
It’s important to know how to properly address social media misuse and know how to respond to protests or report transgressions.
This story appeared after an individual claimed to be a war hero to seduce women. http://goo.gl/7DS2g
The U.S. Navy issued this response following an online protest. http://goo.gl/gSwCk
Faux FORSCOM is one of hundreds of self-proclaimed “fake” Twitter accounts. These are authorized by Twitter.
Social Media Roundup
Organized protests Protests happen all over the world, and with the
rise of social media, individuals can now assemble peacefully from the comfort of their own couches.
Social media platforms have given protesters another place to come together and make their voices heard. In recent months, citizens of Egypt, Iran and Tunisia have used social media to launch protests.
Several Facebook Pages have been hit by online protesters through organized postings to the organization’s wall.
In December 2010, as many as 4,000 messages hit the U.S. Navy’s Facebook Page as part of a coordinated computer initiative from around the world protesting the Navy's designation of the "Arabian Gulf" instead of the "Persian Gulf."
Social Media Roundup
Organized protests While your organization may feel compelled to
delete comments during an online protest, that’s not always the best course of action.
Facebook and other social media platforms are designed to facilitate discussion, and organized protests shouldn’t be blocked if they remain peaceful and do not violate your organization’s posting policy. Censoring or blocking comments that do not violate posting policies can damage an organization’s credibility.
Instead of blocking the protest entirely, monitor the conversation and correct misinformation.
Be sure to craft an organization posting policy and include wording that prohibits obscene language and spam. This allows your organization to block or permanently ban certain protesters if they get out of hand. The Army’s posting policy can be found here: http://goo.gl/ttXpb
Social Media Roundup
Imposter accounts Occasionally, social media users claim
to be someone they are not. This practice can become a problem when users claim to be Army officials or Soldiers.
Some individuals impersonate others for recognition, while others do it for financial gain. The practice of impersonating Soldiers for financial gain is becoming more and more common.
When imposter accounts are identified, it’s important to report the accounts to the host platforms.
Twitter allows for imposter accounts, if they indicate that they are “unofficial” or “fan” accounts.
A search for “Stanley McChrystal” on Twitter brings up several imposter accounts. Imposters on Twitter are quite common.
SSG Salvatore Giunta was impersonated on Twitter before being awarded the Medal of Honor. The Online and Social Media Division reached out to Twitter and the person managing the account to make sure it was identified as a “tribute” or “fan” account.
Social Media Roundup
Imposter accounts Imposter accounts are not only
violations of terms of use agreements, they can also be damaging to a Soldier’s reputation.
When an imposter account is identified, it’s important to take action.
Most social media platforms have a reporting system that allows users to report an individual who is pretending to be someone else.
If the individual being impersonated is a high-level Army official, it is advised to contact the Online and Social Media Division at [email protected] so the situation can be resolved quickly.
Facebook’s reporting system
Twitter’s reporting system
Social Media Roundup
Unofficial Presences Many commands have unofficial social
media presences established by former Soldiers, veterans or just fans excited about that command. That’s why it’s important to create a social media presence so your organization can secure the space and vanity URL before an unofficial Page grabs it.
Organizations do not have the right to remove unofficial presences unless they falsely portray themselves as an official presence.
It’s important to work with the command leadership to determine if the organization wants to approach the Page administrator to request removal, or simply monitor the unofficial Page and chime in when the organization has information to add.
Once a certain number of unofficial “fan” Pages are created, Facebook creates a community Page for that organization. This is not an imposter page, it simply is Facebook combining all of the “fan” Pages and creating one Page to avoid confusion. Fore more information on Community Pages, visit this site: http://goo.gl/09waj
Social Media Roundup
Protective measures
Draft a comprehensive posting/commenting policy and post it to your social media platforms. This will help your organization manage organized protests.
Monitor protests and delete comments that violate your posting policies. For documentation purposes, take screenshots of violations before deleting.
The UCMJ applies online too, so report threats of violence that occur during online protests to the Criminal Investigations Division (CID) on your installation.
Report imposter social media accounts using the platform’s reporting mechanism (see next slide.) If a senior Army leader is being impersonated, make sure to report the incident to the Online and Social Media Division immediately.
Be on the lookout for unofficial social media presences. Make sure they do not claim to be the “official” source of organization information.
Work with unofficial site administrators. Try to coordinate efforts. Register official organization Pages and get a vanity URL.
Online protests
Imposter accounts
Unofficial presences
Social Media Roundup
Reporting resourcesFacebook
Steps to report abuse via Facebook profiles, groups, events, messages, photos, etc.: http://goo.gl/0PZCH
Impersonation policy: http://goo.gl/ydWgk Link to report impersonations: http://goo.gl/UDsI0
LinkedIn Link to report fake accounts: http://goo.gl/WsPHf
Myspace Click on “report abuse” link on bottom right side of page: http://www.myspace.com/
Social Media Roundup
Contact information
Have questions? Please feel free to reach out to us at the Online and Social Media Division
OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF PUBLIC AFFAIRSPENTAGON
4/27/2011
Email:[email protected]
To review and download past editions of the Social Media Roundup, visit our Slideshare site at: http://www.slideshare.net/usarmysocialmedia. All Social Media Roundups are authorized to be distributed to a broader audience.
