#CockyGate: There are lessons to be learnt.

This week, I’ve been watching the Twitter and Facebook feeds with my jaw dropped. #CockyGate has been this tornado that measures 5 on the Fujita scale, and no writer is safe from the disaster left in its wake. For those of you who have no clue what I’m talking about, I’m referring to the trademark that was issued to a romance writer, effectively granting her sole possession of the word cocky. I know that might sound like an exaggerating, but the responses from Amazon and Goodreads in relation to this mess has meant that the publishing industry is about to face a massive revolution.

I won’t go into the details of the ludicrous situation. If you are interested in the little details, just Google it. Trust me. There is a mountain of articles and information out there about it.

No, I want to focus on the effects of social media and how mob psychology works. I want to talk about how one woman destroyed her reputation and likely her writing career. And it wasn’t by this trademark disaster. Granted, that didn’t help in the slightest. No, in today’s industry, so much of your reputation and sales relies on public perception and the face presented online.

There are lessons to be learnt from this mess, that’s for sure.

I deliberated for a long time about whether I should put this blog post here, on my Editor’s Blog, or on my personal blog. However, the recent events of #CockyGate will have such a huge impact on the ENTIRE publishing industry that I felt I needed to say things here.

#CockyGate or Mob Frenzy?

My first introduction to #CockyGate was a random comment on one of my Facebook groups that seemed to come out of nowhere. I had no idea what they were referring to. The next day, there was a long message of concern from the president of Romance Writers New Zealand (also on Facebook), along with a long trail of comments.

Well, when I see something that heated, with mountains of comments, I have to go look at what this is all about. Curiosity is my biggest failing, I know that, but why fight nature?

Enter mob psychology.

The outrage was huge on Twitter and Facebook. I don’t doubt that it was just as big on other platforms as well, but I’m not on those platforms, so I wouldn’t know. Regardless, #CockyGate was shaping up to be such a big mess, one I’m still struggling to process on how it was allowed to happen in the first place. However, I’ve never been one to fall in line with the lynch mob. I’ve always formulated my own opinions based on the facts. It’s who I am. So, hunt out the facts, I go.

I will admit that in the beginning, I felt sorry for Faleena Hopkins. On the surface, it looked as though she had made this horrible mistake, not understanding the law and her rights, which was being blown out of proportion. Had she remained silent on social media, not posting a 90-minute rant on Facebook, I would likely still have that opinion. Not now.

Now for the lessons to be learnt.

Protecting Yourself on the Internet!

In the first iteration of this blog post, I wanted to delve into the lessons about how copyright and trademarks work, but I’m a social media expert. There are many lessons to be learn here about social media and internet security.

Anyone who has ever read this blog will know that I’m a huge fan of protecting yourself and your reputation on the internet. I deliberately share what knowledge I have on the subject here on this blog, through my little Twitter rants, and via some of the books that I write. Hidden Traps is one such book, intended to help writers and other public personalities to build an online platform safely — protecting themselves.

However, protecting yourself on the internet is not just about your privacy and security settings.

There are Two Sides to Internet Protection.

There are two different aspects to protecting yourself on the internet. The first is directly related to privacy and security settings on the service. The Zuckerberg hearings, and everything that went down with Facebook, brought to light how lapse so many of us had become on keeping certain pieces of information private. If we have our Friends list available for the whole world to see, then we leave a security hole available for the unscrupulous to exploit. Yet, those things are minor compared to the things we say and do.

A huge part of internet security and protection comes down to user is an idiot. There really isn’t a nicer way to say it. What good is it to complain that your private address is being leaked by Facebook, when you have posted on Twitter a photo of your house, complete with the number on the mailbox and a caption that says the street where your house is located. I mean, really, could you be so stupid?

The #CockyGate issue is not anywhere near the security issue of sharing a photo of your house, but it is just as damaging.

Protecting Your Online Reputation is Just As Important.

Remember I said that in the beginning, I felt sorry for Faleena Hopkins. She was being publicly ridiculed for her actions, with no chance to defend herself. Because of the way mob psychology works, even if she had tried to defend herself, being humble and the like, the lynch mob would still have tried to hang her. For the sake of her reputation, the safest thing she could have done would have been to stay silent. Eventually, the mob would have found something else to complain about it, then she could have moved on to damage control. Instead, she decided to come back fighting — in a condescending way.

The number one rule of building an online platform using social media is to play nice. Another way to say this is don’t feed the trolls.

Writers are advised to NEVER comment about anything said on their reviews on Amazon or Goodreads. Don’t thank reviewers for their nice comments, and certainly don’t comment about negative reviews. Let them just wash over you.

Trust me, I have first-hand experience on how difficult it is to stay silent. The urge to defend yourself is incredibly strong. However, for the sake of your reputation, silence is the only solution.

The moment Faleena Hopkins went on a public rant on social media, she lost ALL credibility. I was prepared to give her the benefit of doubt right up until then. Had it been a public apology for the mess she’s caused, my opinion of her would have been intact. Had she stayed silent and said nothing, just letting the lynch mob find something else to complain about, my opinion would have remained intact. But attacking others in return?

There was only one thing she said that I totally agree with: leave her models, family and fans out of it. They were not the ones to blame for #CockyGate and hence should not be attacked. However, anything that happens to Faleena Hopkins from here on out, she has brought on herself.

Saying that, I do not condone any messages sent to her that personally attack her. I will never condone such actions. And personally attacking her on social media is a BIG FAT NO-NO. If you are considering such actions, I do understand why you might feel the need to do so, but before you hit that send button, stop and think about the impact that your message will have on your own reputation.

Be extremely careful how you phrase your public outrage.

Today’s Publishing is About Public Image.

Most of the western world values the freedom of speech. We need to feel a sense of liberty to express our varying opinions and ideas, leading to healthy debate and discussions. It’s how we reach mutual understanding. However, the moment things become a personal attack is the moment that it is no longer about the issues, but based on personal bias — and that is the moment you put your reputation at risk.

Within your conduct on social media, you should be able to separate the issues from the person — even if you find the person’s actions deplorable. Feel free to express your thoughts and opinions, but also keep in mind the mechanics of mob psychology.

Mob Psychology Rules Social Media.

For a moment, let’s ignore #CockyGate and look at other instances where the lynch mob quickly got out of control on social media.

(Breathing, and bracing myself for the worst.)

US presidential elections for 2016. For this discussion, it doesn’t matter what anyone thinks about Trump’s politics or his campaign tactics. However, someone PLEASE take away his access to social media. Every time he says anything that could be taken so many different ways on social media, mob psychology takes over, and the man’s idiotic messages go viral.

If you understand mob psychology with respect to social media, then you will learn how to decide whether a certain message should go out, or whether you should just keep your mouth shut. In all of your actions within a public forum, be selfish and think of how that message will impact on you and your reputation that you have carefully constructed.

At the end of the day, the only one who can really protect you is you.

Learn Other Ways to Protect Yourself Online.

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© Copyright, Judy L Mohr 2018