Is your brand hosting hatred? Photography, diversity and the failures of social media moderation

Look through the ads you see served up to you via Facebook, or another social channel of your choice. How many of them contain images of people? Most of them, right? And what has changed in recent years when it comes to the nature of those people portrayed? The diversity of the people we see. Our society is diverse, and so too, quite rightly, are the people we see in advertising: be that a same-sex couple checking into a hotel, a family of colour watching TV or a woman working in a role that we may historically have seen as male.

This is a good thing. It’s not just morally right, but it’s commercially sensible too. In a diverse society, why wouldn’t we see diverse models?

So far, so sensible.

But there’s a part of this process where the positivity too often breaks down, and good?intentions backfire dramatically…

Read the comments

Now of course, some wise folks maintain that the first rule of the internet is (or should be) ‘Never read the comments’, but comments exist. They are within the very fabric of social media, and of social media advertising. They are one of the measures by which the dubious metric of ‘engagement’ supposedly evidences a campaign’s success. We may choose not to read comments, but for people who endure the harms of racism, or homophobia, or misogyny, those comments have the potential to do damage – and the potential to more-than-undo the intended good work of an art director’s wide choice of imagery.

Beneath adverts of Black man on a bike, I’ve seen snide racism. Following a portrayal of a gay couple on holiday, I’ve read pathetic homophobia. And to accompany images of women, how many of us have seen the kind of sexism that should be a thing of the past?

Here’s the real kicker, the biggest disgrace: Too often these comments go unmoderated and unchecked by the brand paying for the advert. Why? Has the brand marketer or social manager not noticed? Do they not care? Or is their social media advertising being handled by an agency who is simply scheduling and forgetting?

If you don't challenge it, you condone it

In the busy world of marketing and social management, many tasks get overlooked, and moderating comments is often one of them. But if the result of this oversight is that your social spaces host overt racism, misogyny or homophobia, you have an issue on your hands, and far too many major brands, including universities, clothing brands, automotive companies (and a major UK airline that centres its marketing squarely on diversity and inclusion) are all making this awful mistake.

What is the point of representing a broad range of people in your advertising if you then allow the comments to convey vile prejudice? If you – as an advertiser – host an environment where racists and misogynists are free to sling abuse at the person portrayed, without threat of censure or removal, has your image choice had a positive or negative effect – on society and on your brand?

What can you do?

If you are a brand using social media: recognise that your approach to diversity isn’t just a two-dimensional thing that goes as far as choosing photos. You need to back it up with attention and decision-making that demonstrates what you stand for. For the brands who step up, take a stand and demonstrate their values, recognition can be noticeable and valuable. For the brands who love to parade their love of diversity, but don't back this up when it really counts, the impression is an unpleasant one.

If you are an agency managing social media for a brand: take responsibility. Don’t just schedule the ads, report the engagement and bill the client. Managing comments is an integral part of social media management, and if you don’t take this seriously, you’re not finishing the job. Help your client. Show them how you are protecting their brand, and discuss this with them. And if you’re wary of deleting or moderating comments out of a desire to maximise engagement stats, have a serious word with yourself. Enabling racists is not a worthy business model, and should never bring you commercial reward.

If you are a customer: call this stuff out. Contact the brand, ask if they’ve seen it. Ask what they will be doing. Discover whether their approach to diversity started and finished at image selection, or continues into community management. Adjust your perception of the brand based on their response. It could be the truest insight available as to whether you’re dealing with people who really care, or who are merely going through the motions of visual diversity.