Social media managers need to stand up and manage

What does it take for social media managers to actually manage the community of an account – and where is the line between freedom of speech, social media engagement and a failure to create a safe online community?   

I have been pondering this question over and over since a Welcome to Country was booed in the middle of an ANZAC Day ceremony on Friday. There was an onslaught of media commentary exploring and unpicking the rationales of neo-Nazis, which were then validated by an onslaught of everyday Australians on the social media posts of even the most left-leaning media outlets.  

Excruciating, deplorable language, archaic racist attacks and a fundamental misunderstanding of what a Welcome to Country is all about.

This was a copy-paste experience of social media engagement surrounding 26 January and the Voice to Parliament, and arguably any content relating to Indigenous peoples, history, news or events. And, much like these occasions, comments were left unmonitored – they were left unremoved, without consequence or – as one would hope – management.

Comments that very clearly break Meta’s own community standards were sitting pretty again and again throughout the comments section of every major social media channel. 

One solution is, of course, to report these comments to Meta. And believe me, I’ve tried. But the problem is, the language that’s considered racist in the US – where these guidelines were developed and then blanketed globally – is fundamentally different to what’s used as racist language in Australia. The nuances of language, the implications of certain statements, are, by and large, unique to this particular context – and so, report you may. But I can assure you that the comments will not be removed. Meta will, more often than not, find that these comments do not break the Community Standards.  

So, what’s the alternative?

Over the weekend, the likes of ABC Indigenous and NITV closed the comment section altogether. I suppose this helps to cut off a means to communicate these kinds of comments, but it also cuts off communication with people this kind of behaviour, the booing and the racism, targets – Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. It is strange to think that the only solution to creating a safe online community is to cut off lines of communication entirely – but I understand the rationale.  

Naomi Brooker

So, what’s left? Quite simply, community management. Australia and channel-specific guidelines about what’s appropriate language and behaviour on each social media channel – and, importantly, the implementation of these guidelines by social media managers. Yes, it takes more time. Yes, it may require weekend work. But this is an investment that media companies – and any brands participating in these conversations online – need to be prepared to make. It’s an investment social media managers need to fight for.  

We cannot, of course, hold social media managers accountable for clickbait articles that intentionally drive debate. But these social media channels, these channels that are becoming a melting pot of racial attacks and judgements, are becoming editorial spaces of their own – and this is problematic.     

Managing online communities cannot be about political leanings – this must be about creating safe and inclusive online spaces, irrespective of political leanings. Anything else is simply lazy, because let’s be honest – doing nothing is not being neutral, it’s complicit.  

Got a tip?

topics Anzac Day Meta social media social media manager welcome to country

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Comments: 2

Dan de Sousa 10 May 25

It’s a challenging environment, Naomi, that’s for sure. As someone who moderates and trains moderators in a number of the spaces you’ve likely visited, I can confidently say that resourcing is one of the biggest constraints. We may see anywhere from 100-300 comments on an average post, while a post like the one you mention above about a Welcome to Country at an Anzac Day ceremony will receive 1500-2000 comments in the first few hours of being published. It’s never the first call to shut down comments, you’re right about wanting to keep open the lines of communication for the core audiences of those pages, but misinformation, disinformation and bigotry derail those conversations rapidly. I also would love to see the platforms take on a larger role in addressing cultural context within the comment sections so less of the Australia-specific racism or bigotry is visible to audiences before the moderators reach it. Solid piece, I agree with your ending “doing nothing is not being neutral, it’s complicit”, and I love the mission you have behind SUADA. It feels aligned with a lot of the work we do at Quiip, and some projects I’ve been discussing with Luke at IndigenousX. I also wrote a piece last year on some lessons from moderating during the Voice Referendum in 2023 you may find interesting. If you’d ever like to connect on something, it’d be great to chat.

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Anonymous 29 Apr 25

Solution.

If you are a publisher-of-sort, simply don’t include open comment sections. If someone is so steamed up to be commenting abhorrently, then allow them to directly e-mail to the publisher who can decided what is allowed and what isn’t.

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