Estate Living Magazine Invest SA - Issue 45 September 2019 | Page 15

P R O P E R T Y
&
I N V E S T M E N T
Reputation management
While there are legal options available, often the law is simply too
slow. Even once the relevant legal action has been taken, the content
has been viewed, shared, retweeted and/or screenshots have been
taken and shared. At this point, from a reputational perspective,
the damage has been done. For this reason, it is often advisable to
manage these situations reputationally.
While it is very tempting to become a ‘keyboard warrior’ and jump
to the defence of the estate, you should always consider whether
responding is the best way to deal with the matter, or whether it will
add fuel to the fire. Sometimes a response creates what reputation
management experts refer to as the ‘Barbara Streisand effect’ –
drawing far more attention to the post than it had in the first place.
Before deciding whether to respond, and how and where to
respond, consider the reputational harm of the content and the
scope of its reach. Has it been posted on a neighbourhood Facebook
group with 20,000 members and gone viral, or is it lurking on an
unknown individual’s Facebook page with 30 followers? Sometimes
addressing the mater privately, i.e. responding to the concern by
messaging the poster privately, is the most appropriate course of
action. Some content warrants no response at all. If you are unsure, it
is always a good idea to call in the help of a reputation expert.
Best practice
Prevention is always better than cure so, to ensure that you are
prepared in the event that you are the subject of a negative social
media post, here are some helpful tips:
• Appoint a qualified individual or organisation who is tasked to deal
with communications for the estate, and make sure that all board
members and principals are aware that all communications on
behalf of the estate should be channelled through that person.
• Ensure that anyone responsible for managing the estate
Facebook page is aware of the legal responsibilities of a
Facebook page administrator. In terms of South African law,
the administrator of a Facebook page is responsible for all user-
generated content on that page. If the administrator does not
remove negative/unlawful/illegal content on that page once
asked to do so, he or she could be as responsible for that content
as the person who posted it initially.
• Consider guidelines for estate WhatsApp groups. Estate
WhatsApp groups can be a hotbed of negative content. Having
guidelines for these groups can assist in ensuring that the
content remains appropriate, above board, legal and aligned to
• Enlist the services of a reputation management expert if you are
uncertain how to deal with negative content on social media.
the purpose of the group. For examples of such guidelines, visit:
www.thedigitallawco.com/whatsapp/10-tips-whatsapp-groups/
Sarah Hoffman, LLB
Director, Digital Law Company