Alexander Gardner

While the film covers the last four months of Lincoln’s presidency as he worked to abolish slavery in 1865, it also depicts Lincoln’s gift for making memorable speeches.  The 16^th president of the United States was very quotable, to say the least.  Many sayings attributed to him still resonate today, including these words he once made famous: “He who represents himself has a fool for a client.”

That quote can be looked at in several ways.  In a literal sense, a person without an education in the legal field might be more successful in court if he or she uses a lawyer for representation.

In a more abstract sense, Lincoln’s quote can raise the question of objectivity.  For example, can a person really be objective enough to properly represent one’s self in a court of law?  As an outside third party, a lawyer brings neutrality while still advocating in your best interest.

Objectivity is one notion that business owners should consider when deciding who should be monitoring the company’s online user-generated content.  At Scout Moderation, we make it our business to be objective and provide top-notch, third-party monitoring of the word-users on your site.  It’s our job to stick to the guidelines you provide and set parameters in deciding which content is fit to keep or should be removed.

There are many advantages to using an objective monitor to protect your site from inappropriate content.  If you currently use in-house staff to monitor your site, you should consider that using a social media peacekeeper like Scout Moderation can insulate you from liability.

In the European Union for instance, there are directives that hold website owners liable if they do not remove objectionable content, but moderators are not held to the same standards, so we take the responsibility off your shoulders.

Our staff members also receive exceptional training in detecting subtleties in language that filtering software or associates abroad might not recognize – such as derogatory American pop culture references.  For instance, a moderator such as Scout would know that continually posting “1918” in a Red Sox forum is a dig to the team, whereas a software filter or unskilled moderator might not make the connection.

You are safe with Scout.  And because we have the technology and ability to work remotely, we can save you money as well.  If you were using Scout Moderation, you wouldn’t be spending precious extra resources on physical space, equipment and benefits associated with having one of your own minding the store.

Equally as important – assuming your in-house operations shut down at 5 p.m. – we think it’s important that you have someone monitoring your site 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.  While your company’s work day may end at a set time, cyber bullies don’t take breaks.  In fact, your off-hours are likely to occur when those looking to post inappropriate comments or infiltrate your social media activity are just getting started.

Take advice from a trusted U.S. president, and consider backing out of an arena in which you represent yourself.  Consider allowing Scout Moderation to help.

Noteworthy Images

This season is a particularly important time to make sure that the online arena for your business is free from cyber bullies or others whose ill-used words could negatively affect your operations. This time of year seems to bring out the trolls – and the grinches – who infiltrate sites with spam and wreak havoc on an otherwise enjoyable online experience.

Your business may take a break during the holidays, but the Internet is not a place that slows down. In fact, there is usually more online activity — and the potential for abusive users — as people are enjoying perusing their favorite sites when there’s downtime away from the office. There is also the increased opportunity for people to get carried away with negative posts as they surf the Web after enjoying that holiday cheer.

At Scout Moderation, we’ve got you covered when you want to take time off to enjoy the holidays or get away before 2013 rolls right in. You can feel comfortable leaving your user-generated content to be monitored by our skilled staff, which works 24 hours every day of the year.

At this time of year when there is a focus on peace and harmony — no matter what holiday you celebrate — the user-generated content on your website should be just as civil. As online peacekeepers, you can relax knowing that we will act quickly to identify and remove content that is inappropriate and does not accurately reflect the face and messaging of your business.

Consider us like a comforting hand on the shoulder, acknowledging that it’s our turn to provide online moderation services so you and your staff don’t have to.

Whether you’re in the office or sipping eggnog by the fireplace, we keep your reputation untarnished.

And as one of our client’s says, when life gets busy, “It’s Scout to the rescue.”

Roman Chmiel

Use of the Internet is exploding in foreign countries, with websites being translated into hundreds of different languages.  If you’ve got something to sell, promote or proclaim, consider creating sites in multiple languages, and treat them as you would your English-language presence.  Get the gist of your message to online consumers in words the audience can understand.

Statistics bear out that more and more businesses are translating their sites from English to the language spoken by their target markets. The foreign language Internet is “growing at a rapid rate,” according to Internet World Stats (IWS), which compiles usage and population statistics.

Just look at the stat-keepers’ numbers for growth in these languages from 2000-2011:

• Arabic: 2501.2 percent growth
• Russian: 1825.8 percent growth
• Chinese: 1478.7 percent growth
• Portuguese: 990.1 percent growth

By comparison, English-language sites have grown by only 301.4 percent during that time period.

IWS also ranked the top 10 Internet users by language as of 2010. Not surprisingly, English was number one with 536 million users, followed by Chinese (444 million), Spanish (153 million), Japanese (99 million) and Portuguese (82 million).

Looks like there are some opportunities out there to reach online consumers in the spoken word of their country of origin.

This means online moderation is going global, too.  Communicating effectively with your non-English-speaking audience probably shouldn’t be your only concern.  You should still be protecting information found on your site — no matter the native language.

Assume that your online community could face potential bullies or be subject to illegal activity in any global market.  User generated content that is inappropriate or uncivil is bad no matter in which language it appears.

If your site targets visitors from all over the world, we have the expertise to handle a number of different languages, including Spanish, French, German, Chinese, Gaelic and Portuguese.  And we will be expanding our ability to handle moderation of more languages as the need arises.

At Scout Moderation we aim to be the social support for multilingual moderation.

Mashable

Mashable.com, an engaging online news source for the “Connected Generation,” is marking the importance of social media that day for users all over the world.  This is the third year in a row that the company has recognized the “digital revolution happening right before our eyes.”

Everyone is invited to host or attend a Meetup in their area to note the occasion.

Why celebrate?  Take a peek at this interesting stat: In a recent study, EMarketer forecasted that, “There will be 1.43 billion social network users in 2012, a 19.2 percent increase over 2011…amounting to a substantial share of the world’s entire population.”

Numbers like that just go to show the world loves social media.  It plays an important part in people’s lives and in this company’s life.  The fact that you are reading this blog automatically puts you in the social media-connected category.

Remember how you once connected with family and friends?  Writing a letter and slapping a stamp on it?  Dialing the phone and talking?  You only reached one person at a time that way.  All the various methods of social media have just about replaced communicating via snail mail and landlines, and they have broadened the number of people we can reach into the millions.  Social media enhances our lives and makes it easier to connect with people.

And don’t forget that social media continues to grow in popularity and that it connects people with what they watch and what they buy.

It might surprise you to learn which age group is increasingly using social media. According to a study conducted by Edison Research, “Americans age 45 and older represent the largest percentage increase in social media usage in the past year, now up to 38 percent (from 31 percent in 2011).”  The good news is this demographic is less tolerant of abusive or inappropriate behavior.

If you have a lot to say about how social media impacts your life, set up your own celebration on June 30. Get together with friends and other interested social media users and talk to each other. The old-fashioned way – and online.

Tuomas Kujansuu

Every company that allows users to post content on its website should have User Guidelines or a Terms of Service (TOS) agreement in place.  These guidelines outline what your tolerance is in terms of what can and can’t be posted.

Don’t want cyber bullies? All you need to do is customize your TOS agreement, which usually users are prompted to read and agree to when they create an account on your website.  Spell out that you are a bully-free zone and that your moderators will remove content.

Your TOS gives you control, provides a structure and offers your users fair warning of what will be disallowed or removed from your site.

Here are some tips on creating your Terms of Service agreement:

1) Keep guidelines short: Most users never bother to read any or all of the TOS, unless their comments or uploads have been declined.

2) Keep it general enough to cover any situation. People do the darndest things.  Beware that users could post pictures of themselves in their underwear or pose in only their six-guns and a big smile.  Unexpected circumstances will always arise.  A general TOS keeps the door open for you to make appropriate determinations.  For example, disallowing “hate speech” covers a lot of ground in terms of racist, sexist or homophobic posts.  You can be specific, however, about issues that directly impact your campaign or site (i.e., age or image requirements).

3) Don’t forget about damaging photos. Protect your brand from damaging posts of photographs or illustrations that would be harmful to it, such as anything that highlights or links to competitors’ brands.

4) Do not allow copyrighted material. Educate yourself about copyright violations and other legal issues affecting social media.  Violations could include a user uploading pictures of people wearing T-shirts with Coca-Cola or Mickey Mouse on them.  Depending on how the image is perceived, you could be held liable for these violations.

5) Protect the privacy of your users. Let your users know that your moderators will not approve content that would include private information such as anyone’s email address, telephone number, street address, or any other personal information.

If your social media team is ready to launch a killer app to engage your customers and fans, mitigate the risk of opening up your site to user-generated content by drafting a comprehensive and effective TOS.   Think through your guidelines carefully and craft a TOS that is simple, clear and broad.

Credit: Brigitte Lacombe

Almost everyone knows a red rose symbolizes love, but not many know there is a whole language around flowers, and Vanessa Diffenbaugh is using it to change lives.  A bestselling author, Vanessa is using the release of her new novel, The Language of Flowers, to bring light to the plight of older youths in foster care and to ignite a national discussion. The book tells the story of a girl who grew up in the foster care system and can’t trust or communicate with people, so she uses the Victorian language of flowers to express herself.

We tell you about Vanessa now, on International Women’s Day, because she exemplifies the spirit of IWD.  As a foster mother, Vanessa knows firsthand that when foster children turn 18 and no longer qualify for services, there is no family there to buoy them. Without support, 25 percent face homelessness and incarceration.

Vanessa saw this need and filled it by founding the Camellia Network, a nationwide organization that supports young people who have aged out of the foster care system by helping them to go to college, find an apartment or just get their bearings as they transition from foster care to adulthood.

Through the Camellia Network, emancipated youth across the country have a means to share their stories, dreams and needs. In turn, supporters can purchase supplies and equipment that will best help these young people manage the transition

Here is what the Camellia Network believes in: “It is time for us all to take shared responsibility for foster youth; to stop referring to youth in foster care as ‘those kids’ and start thinking of them as ‘our kids’; to stop waiting for the ‘system’ to take care of the problem and to start working together as citizens to create the change we want to see.”

We think that is well said.

If you know a woman who is raising her voice online and needs a moderator, let her know Scout Moderation supports women. Scout Moderation is here to help enact civil conversations over major change.

Emily Dickinson Museum

Emily lived as a recluse for most of her adult life because of a mysterious disorder.  It is speculated that she may have locked herself away from life because she suffered from PTSD or some kind of social anxiety.  From her home in Amherst, Emily carried out her epistolary relationships and sent her poems as holiday notes or birthday cards.  If she were alive today, she would most likely love the positive aspects of social networking; the ability to tweet a poem or post status updates on her Facebook page.

Cyber bullies can ruin your social media project with hurtful words.  In the 1924 edition of The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson, Emily’s verse could be applied to the dangers of cyber bullying:

THERE is a word

Which bears a sword

Can pierce an armed man.

It hurls its barbed syllables,—

Scout Moderation will watch your social network for you so you don’t expose your users to words, “which bear[s] a sword”.  Your online community is a valuable asset and users prefer a presence that will guide discussions, deter cyber bullying or harassment.  Scout’s online community managers will improve your users’ experience by:

• educating members
• encouraging participation
• keeping your site welcoming and safe

An investment in Scout Moderation is a valuable investment in your brand.

Spammers can always find ways around filtering software.  You need someone there to act quickly before the damage is done to your brand.  The human moderators at Scout are the immediate solution you need.  We monitor sites and catch spammers in the act, and, we’re good at it.  With Scout on top of things, you can focus on what you know best – your business.

Scout provides Facebook moderation services, regularly scheduling checks of your Facebook page to screen for off-brand comments or images.  We’ll keep you apprised of any attacks on your site or on your users.  We’re the partner you need to keep your social sites safe.  You can relax and count on Scout.

www.corbisimages.com

At the top of his list is the loss of: “The art of polite disagreement…the inane spats of YouTube commenters may not be representative, the internet has certainly sharpened the tone of debate.  The most raucous sections of the blog world seem incapable of accepting sincerely held differences of opinion“.

Are your customer service complaints about user infighting reaching a drama of opera level proportions?  If your website wants to embrace the interactivity of the online culture our team of moderators have the strategies and experience you need to avoid the crude behavior displayed in so many of today’s online comments sections.

Don’t let cyberbullies misuse your blog or message board to create a hostile environment for your users.  Delegate your moderation services to the experts at Scout Moderation.  We have the knowhow to protect your online community from bullies, trolls and illegal activity and we are here for you 24/7/365 – keeping a positive environment in the social sphere of your slice of the internet.