Heya Bon,
I was just reading an article about how to manage one’s retail business and it talked about controlling your online press. In relation to my YouTube channel, my stance has been to permit most comments, on the exception of anything obscene or spammy. I want my channel to be authentic and therefore I have not censored negative comments. However, as a business, it makes sense that I should want my audience to only be aware of the positive. So, should I moderate the comments on my videos and remove the negative posts?
Thanks for your insight,
Terri J. Freedman
What a great question! It’s interesting, because I’ve been tracking the whole dialogue (mostly through Media Bistro) about corporations that have official fan pages at Facebook or blogs that allow for comments or posts from fans (and nonfans).
Those sites that moderate comments and only let through the good ones are seen as inauthentic and controlling. Those that allow the bad ones through but then delete them are seen as reactionary and controlling. And those that let everything through, deleting nothing, are seen as not caring enough about their visitors’ experiences to create a more friendly space for all to enjoy.
So… it depends.
Your public image is absolutely something that you should “spin” (if not control) as much as you can. I know that every time something hateful is posted somewhere about me, before I can even react to it, I have loads of supporters who come out and volunteer their experiences, counter to those of the non-fan who felt motivated to say something nasty. So, am I better off letting that sort of thing “self-correct”? Or would it be smarter to just shut down the negative before anyone else can see it?
Not sure.
Tom Cruise has many detractors who find his policing of media to be fanatic and totally unnecessary. Some say it’s precisely his desire to keep negative nellies shut up that makes ’em yell that much louder. But do you want to be seen as the whipping boy for bullies? Certainly that can’t be good either. So I think it’s about balance.
On a space like Facebook, it’s about your enjoyment of your social space. But at YouTube, you’re promoting a channel that includes your work, work that you hope your potential buyers will check out, in consideration of hiring you! So, whereas defriending someone who rubs you the wrong way on Facebook takes care of problems there, it’s not so easy on a public showcase of your work. Take IMDb for example. If you have controversial discussions going on at your IMDb message board, your StarMeter goes up! Some would say that’s a huge help, if you’re being scouted by folks who like seeing that you have “heat” right now. Others would say anything negative is potentially poisoning the well from which those potential buyers might want to drink. So if we’re dealing with a site that is used for both fans and potential buyers, where’s the balance of “noise”? How much do you care?
Keeping in mind that most of the folks you’re thinking may be reading those posts are NEVER gonna actually read those posts, it really does come down to your comfort level. No one who is looking to cast you is going to go to the trouble to seek out your material on YouTube, watch your footage, form an opinion, and then have that opinion swayed at all by something that someone called “jackosacko69” posted about the size of your nose or the sound of your voice.
So the bottom line is, how does it affect you to have that stuff “out there”? If it hurts you and you carry that hurt around, then get rid of it (if getting rid of it will cause you to STOP carrying the around. I know plenty of folks who get rid of stuff and STILL continue to carry the hurt around, for years). If it doesn’t bother you but you’re worried it may affect your castability, shake that off. Almost no one in production, casting, agenting, or managing will ever read that stuff until you’re at the level where you’re being considered for a series regular role on the biggest series of a top network, at which point the show’s publicists will take over your online profiles and clean everything up to network standards. And if it’s got people going back and forth about you, driving controversy and traffic your way, then celebrate. You’ve arrived.
Bonnie Gillespie is living her dreams by helping others figure out how to live theirs. Wanna work with Bon? Start here. Thanks!
Originally published by Actors Access at http://more.showfax.com/columns/avoice/archives/001115.html. Please support the many wonderful resources provided by the Breakdown Services family. This posting is the author’s personal archive.