John Steedman: “It’s time to stop anonymous trolling; the coward punches of public debate”
WPP AUNZ Interim CEO John Steedman has issued an open letter to the industry on anonymous trolling.
In it Steedman calls on all industry media outlets to take a stand and ban anonymous posting on comment sections, following what he calls a “concerning decline in the quality of online comment sections in our industry media”.
“These comments are the coward punches of public debate and the ability to comment anonymously simply acts as a shield for unacceptable behaviour. It simply has to stop,” he says.
Read Steedman’s open letter below:
It’s time to stop anonymous trolling: the coward punches of public debate.
I write today asking that you review anonymous posting policies on your website. Trolling is not a new phenomenon, but this ugly side to online communications has reached a tipping point and it’s time to act.
During the past couple of years, I’ve seen a concerning decline in the quality of online comment sections in our industry media. People are being attacked for their sexuality or appearance, for their perceived ability or public views.
These nasty comments are the coward punches of public debate and anonymity provides a shield for unacceptable behaviour. All comments need to be attributed and moderated.
Anonymous comments are a cheap laugh for the people behind these posts, and those who trawl through them, but they often causes real and lasting damage to those on the receiving end. Some of those impacted have been my friends, colleagues or competitors. All of them are going about their daily business, striving to deliver results like the rest of us and share honestly held opinions on important topics of discussion.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m always open to feedback and honest debate of issues. This plays an important role in finding better ways of doing things. But anonymous trolling is not the answer. It’s time we pulled the plug on the freedom of consequence currently enjoyed by these cowards.
I’m asking you to ensure that everyone who comments on stories or posts on your site must log in using their personal or work email address. I’ve called on the support of industry associations and will also be reinforcing our views with clients.
This is a very simple but effective way to make sure people only post comments they’re prepared to see their name against. This would instantly put a stop to the worst of this behaviour and make all of us accountable for our opinions.
At WPP AUNZ, I’m reminding our people that openness and integrity are among our company values. We’ve updated our social media policy for all of our employees to explicitly address commenting behaviour. I will continue to remind our employees that cyberbullying won’t be tolerated.
We need to take a stand together against hateful, destructive and derogatory behaviour. It wouldn’t be accepted in person and shouldn’t be tolerated online. It’s time we stopped giving these anonymous trolls a platform for spreading their cowardly hatred. We have the power to stop this despicable behaviour but actions speak louder than words.
Kind regards,
John Steedman
Interim CEO WPP AUNZ
17 Comments
Bravo
I stand with Steady. And I believe it’s time we stopped giving anonymous trolls a platform for spreading their cowardly hatred. I’ve put my real name to this comment. Have you? #putyournametoit
It’s no coincidence that people within the advertising industry are 20-29% above the national average for showing signs of anxiety and depression respectively.* In other words, almost double any other industry. Anonymous trolling on blogs undoubted are a contributing factor to such alarming statistics. We need to create a better future for young creatives, and ourselves. That starts with bringing the vitriolic trolls out from under their bridges #StandWithSteady (Source: 2018, Mentally Healthy, Tynan & Thienel)
I know your intentions are good but I have to strongly disagree with that comment, Ryan. That study you are referring to explicitly mentions the key contributors to poor mental health in adland. And they include ‘job satisfaction, stress and pressure (from themselves and others), overworking and the number and quality of social connections’. No where does it mention cyberbullying, trolling, verbal assault, etc.
Seeing as you cited that study, deliberately misattributing the cause of that statistic is frankly insulting to those who want to fix it or are a part of it. It’s a misdirection from what is actually wrong with the industry…
A third of us work weekends, half of us work more than eight hours a day.
These are the issues that need to be fixed to improve mental health.
Well said.
Further to this, the above mentioned issues that the study says contribute to the industry’s mental health problem can all actually be directly changed or affected by the interim CEO of a holding company.
Ryan Clayton which tells us that either people develop problems working in Advertising, or Advertising attracts people with problems already. The problem with research like this is it allows you to choose the answer that suits you.
Spot on John. Time for a real clean up of low life trolling. We all have an opportunity these days to express opinions often and widely. But we must be prepared to be counted and transparent.
As many as 20% of Facebook accounts are anonymous and can’t be connected with the real person.
Honourable though John’s intentions may be ( he couldn’t be virtue signalling I’m sure) anyone with half a brain can post on a false email address and a false name . And , if the industry is as nasty as he says who can blame them?
Sometimes these platforms are the only place you can raise an issue of what a place is like. HR tells us to fight back or get out. Senior leaders are not interested. It can be cruel environment to work in and people need to vent. The statistics above help me realise it is not just me and the other 45% of the office. I have been looking for a new job and would love to just walk out as advised by HR but I sadly have financial responsibilities. How else do we call out agencies and leaders who use and abuse staff?
PS. I think that these comments are now being moderated so this will probably be deleted.
I agree in the most part. Vicious and destructive vitriol is unhelpful. But this blog, in particular, is a good sounding board for the work that’s put up here. I remember when “Dumb Ways to Die” was first posted, the comments were all extremely positive and it was obvious that something special had just been made.
Howabout Campaign Brief creates a live version of itself where CB hosts take an audience through recent work and open the floor for comments after ea
Quite the opposite. ‘Dumb ways to die’ was, still, mercilessly criticised. I know, because, I was there. And only a month ago, a piece of work by two Aussie creatives in NYC was tore to pieces, only, to win a Grand Prix at Cannes.
We make ads, people. Yes, that takes an incredible amount of talent, passion, creativity and skill and intelligence (hopefully)- but they’re still ads. if anyone in the world deserves to be trolled and anonymously criticised it’s us.
Gee, after Googling him I can see why this guy doesn’t like anonymous comments:
https://mumbrella.com.au/mediacom-staff-forged-campaign-reports-to-clients-and-sold-discounted-tv-ads-given-to-them-by-media-owners-audit-reveals-279990
I daresay that every single person agreeing with Steady’s PR here and putting their name on record has probably enjoyed the freedom that anonymous posting brings. Has Steady ever commented anonymously? One can only speculate.
Is every anonymous comment a coward punch either? Casting an eye over it, it doesn’t look that way. Many anonymous commenters here are the exactly the opposite. They’re hilarious, witty, insightful and observant. They’re often generous with their time, experience and knowledge. They’re able to speak the truth without Australia’s strong defamation laws, lack of whistleblowing protections, and restrictive social media employment contracts suffocating free speech and booting them out of a job they clearly love despite the long hours.
They could be juniors, suppliers or bosses. And here it doesn’t matter. We’re all the same. Expressing ourselves freely.
On Campaign Brief I often look forward to seeing comments from some of the best anons – Old CD Guy has been one of my faves for countless years, and he is nothing but honest, and often full of praise for good work when he sees it, and dead-set straight talking when it’s not. A coward puncher he ain’t.
Agree that bullying, negative clap-trap has no place, but let’s keep the conversations flowing. Names don’t matter.
Why do you think fishbowl is so popular? Because people can raise questions, offer commentary and just vent ANONYMOUSLY! Without fear of ticking-off someone like yourself, then getting blacklisted at a WPP agency for nothing more than giving their honest opinion. It’s cathartic and healthy.
Easy for Steady to say, he has a job for life. A junior puts his/her name to their real thoughts on CB and gets cut out of the industry in a second or less by well, Steady…