Abraham Lincoln has certainly been on our radar these days. A small piece of his presidency is highlighted in the Golden Globe-nominated film Lincoln by director Steven Spielberg, featuring a tour-de-force performance by Daniel Day-Lewis as Honest Abe.
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 16th 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.
