3 Digital Takeaways from Jennifer Lawrence Scandal

Where there’s a social media scandal, there’s always a lesson to learn. It’s just a pity that Jennifer Lawrence and so many other female celebrities had to learn it the hard way. After an alleged hacking a number of compromising photos of the star were posted on image-based website, 4Chan. The once-private pictures wasted no time in going viral, spreading first throughout Twitter and then the entire web.

The Internet is a powerful thing – sometimes dangerous in the darkest hands. But digital marketers need not worry. Below we’ll tell you how to protect our own privacy along with your brand’s reputation.

1. Protect Your Privacy

Your first priority? Passwords. Check them for all of your social media accounts. Are they safe? Are they unique? If they’re not now is the time to change them. Second on the list? Try turning on two-factor authentication (a service Apple already provides). It’s exactly as it sounds: to login you need to complete an extra step to verify that it’s definitely you. Each time you login in to your iCloud account a unique code is sent to your phone or Apple device.

Some sites are recommending taking precautions and disabling your iCloud Photo Stream. To do so go to Settings and open iCloud. Then select the Photos option and switch off Photo Stream manually. You will need to do this for all of your Apple devices. Worried about a few select shots but don’t want to disable the whole service? Fear not – simply select Edit, tap the risque photos and press Delete.

2. Businesses Get Hacked Too

The online conversation is very much focused on how to protect personal accounts and prevent your private details from leaking. But the truth is your business is just as vulnerable. Do you remember when the Burger King Twitter profile got hacked in February last year? The account was held hostage for a mere 71 minutes and yet a whopping (sorry) 71 tweets had been sent.

The solution? Create bullet-proof passwords. And then don’t leave them lying around. For example, never save passwords on computers you share or on mobile devices that could be stolen. Treat every link with caution as clicking on spam can compromise your site’s security. You don’t want that.

Some handy tools to protect your accounts:

• Consider implementing Single-Sign-On Technology. It allows you to login to all of your social media accounts with your email username and password.
• Using a third party social media platform like Hootesuite can help protect you from spam by warning you before you click on malicious content.

3. Tackle Malicious Gossip

Social media is an unstoppable force. Word-of-mouth moves at frightening speed, especially on the likes of Twitter. Jennifer Lawrence’s case is an example of just that. According to Newstalk the star was mentioned in over 700,000 tweets and over 7,000 news articles across 100 countries in just 24 hours. As soon as she heard about the photos she got them removed and issued a tweet defending her position.

But what about your business? Why not think of yourself as your own publicist? Then actively monitor your accounts with the help of a social media management tool. Respond with thanks to positive feedback and quickly answer any questions your customers might have. And for the trickier issues like rumours and false complaints? Don’t ignore them. Instead act like Jennifer Lawrence and tackle the issue head on with grace, dignity and without fear. Your customers will respect you for it.

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