“This
is Ask.fm's first Safer Internet Day under new leadership, and our goal is not
only to contribute to the dialogue in a meaningful way, but to use it as a
stepping stone for inviting our user community to participate in our vision – that
Ask.fm is a place for fruitful exploration, not bullies. We realize getting
there will take time, and each day we are wholly focused on the hard work of
making Ask.fm a safer and more positive place. The #nobullies campaign extends
this commitment by allowing people everywhere to engage in our evolution and
the broader conversation”
Head of Safety and
Trust at Ask.fm Catherine Teitelbaum, commenting on Ask.fm sponsorship of Safer
Internet Day 2015 on Tuesday February 10th 2015,
A
lot has happened in a Year for the controversial Q&A Social Network, Ask.fm.
On
Tuesday February 10th 2015, Ask.fm became the
sponsor for Safer Internet Day 2015, a day on which users of the Internet reflect
on how they can change their behaviour to make the Internet safer for all users
as noted in the article “Ask.fm
Named as Official Sponsor of Safer Internet Day 2015”, published by Feb. 4,
2015, PR Newswire.
 |
The
observance of the day under the theme “Safer Internet Day 2015: Actions and
Activism Toward a Better Net and World”, is being led by ConnectSafely, a lead
researcher that does outreach and research to help Internet Users protect their
identity and avoid being bullied and robbed on the information superhighway.
The
day was hosted at Facebook's Silicon Valley campus. So think of a wine and
cheesy affair with lots of Silicon Valley bigwigs in panel discussions with
youth leaders, educators, policy makers, parents and peers from all around the
Tech scene telling you what not to do online and the dangers of Social Media.
Ask.fm Chief Trust and Safety Officer, Catherine
Teitelbaum actually participated in a panel discussion entitled “Beyond
Bullying: Dealing with Trolling and Social Cruelty” to show their commitment to
safety online.
As
a part of this initiative they launched a StopBullying.US
website as well as launched a #nobullies Social Media campaign for participants
in Safer Internet Day 2015 to post comments affirming their stance against cyberbullying.
As hashtags are now universal on almost all Social Media Websites, this is
applicable not only on Ask.fm but on all Social
Media websites.
But
is Ask.fm themselves an example of a company associated
with safer use of the Internet? based on my first blog article on Ask.fm entitled “Ask.fm,
the new Q&A Social Network popular among Millennials and Tweens is
connected to Teen suicides - You Don’t have to answer every question as your
Ask.fm friends are not you Drinking Buddies” that cited the problems that
the anonymous Q&A Social Network, Ask.fm were
having, their problems were no different from those of Snapchat.
But
they've made progress as I’ll explain below.
Ask.fm and Safer
Internet Day 2015 - How Ask,fm is cracking down on bullying on their Social
Network
Started
in 2010 by two (2) Latvian brothers, Ilja and Mark Terebin, Ask.fm is where users make posts and get asked
questions by anonymous posters, with comments being registered as either being
mild or very abusive.
As
of August 2014 it had some impressive stats:
1. 180
million monthly users
2. 700
posts each second
3. 65
million users under the age of 18 years old
With
those stats, they're 75% the size of Twitter's Active monthly users stats of 284
Million Active and 50% of Instagram’s 300 million Monthly active users as noted
in my entitled y blog
article entitled “Instagram's
300 Million Active Monthly Users – Teenagers and Millennials Selfie Trend
boosts Facebook's Advertising Revenue while Chasing Pinterest and Tumblr”.
 |
Smelling
another Snapchat on the Horizon, Ask.fm was
purchased by Ask.com Founder Doug Leeds for an undisclosed sum of money back in
August 2014, which the Latvian Brother took and left the company as noted in
the article “Ask.fm bought
by Ask.com and Tinder owner”, published 14 August 2014 By Joe Miller, BBC
News.
The
sale of the company appears to have been engineered by IAC (InterActiveCorp), a
US company said to be funneling millions of dollars into the company in a bid
to stamp out bullying. IAC has the balls to say this, as they are huge in a
very quiet way, owners of several other online Brand:
1. About.com
2. CollegeHumor
3. Dictionary.com
4. Investopedia
5. Match
6. OkCupid
7. The
Daily Beast
8. Tinder
9. Urbanspoon
10. Vimeo
This
safety revamp will see Ask.fm dealing with user
complaints about cyberbullying with 24 hours and removal of users who are the
subject of multiple complaints.
To
quote New York State Attorney General, Eric Schneiderman, Ask.fm New Management is under surveillance by his
office for the next three (3) years, quote: “Under the terms of the agreement, Ask.fm will revamp its safety policies and procedures.
An independent safety and security examiner will be appointed to examine the
changes and report on compliance to the Attorney General's Office for three
years”.
Hannah Smith Suicide -
How association with a Case of Suicide sank Ask.com
The
negative association with cyberbullying began when 14-year-old Hannah Smith
took her own life in August 2013 after apparently receiving vile post on Ask.fm from other users as noted in the article “Hannah
Smith suicide: David Cameron writes letter to grieving dad promising action
against trolls”, published 15 August 2013, By Andy Rudd, The UK Mirror.
She
was discovered hanging by a rope by her older sister Jo Smith hanging in her
room on Friday August 2nd 2013, one day after my Birthday on
Thursday August 1st 2013, which also happens to be Jamaicans'
Emancipation Day.
This
stark coincidence is why I had originally done my first blog article on Ask.fm entitled “Ask.fm,
the new Q&A Social Network popular among Millennials and Tweens is
connected to Teen suicides - You Don’t have to answer every question as your
Ask.fm friends are not you Drinking Buddies”, as the coincidence was
striking and poignant.
Back
then, UK Prime Minister David Cameron had made contact with her father, David
Smith and promised action, as from all accounts this appeared to be a case of
cyberbullying by trolls on Ask.fm. Good to note
here that Ask.com is known as Ask Jeeves in the UK.
 |
But a year later in May 2014 it now appears not to be quite so. Based on investigations by the Leicestershire Police in August 2013, it appeared that she'd posted most of the hateful messages to herself, despite being banned by her father as noted in the article “Hannah Smith suicide: Teenager used Ask.fm in secret after being banned from going on it by worried father”, published 19 August 2013, By Andy Rudd, The UK Mirror.
This
as the suicide death of 14-year-old Hannah Smith wasn't attributed to
cyberbullying on Ask.fm Q&A. Rather, before
she'd been bullied directly at her school over her eczema, a rash-like skin
conditions that leaves the sufferer with ashy, discolored skin as noted in the
article “Hannah
Smith wrote 'vile' posts to herself before suicide, say police” published
Tuesday 6 May 2014 22.40 BST by Caroline Davies, UK Guardian.
 |
Ask.fm is connected to this incident of suicide in a negative way despite evidence on her laptop that suggested that she’d posted most of the abusive messages to herself on Ask.fm. This apparently reflecting the degree to which she began to dislike her physical appearances based on the bullying that she received at school.
She
also began posting suicidal notes on Facebook expressing a desire to die,
possibly because she began to believe what was being said about her. Being a
Teenager is tough indeed, especially if you’re being bullied and no-one
believes you!
But despite all this evidence, the negative association
with the Suicide of Hannah smith as well as Leitrim teenager Ciara Pugsley and
Donegal teenager Erin Gallagher, who both died in 2012 due to allegedly
cyberbullying through Ask.fm, remained.
Hence,
when Ask.com took over Ask.fm, the Latvian
founder, who had a laisse-fair style
of management were effectively given money in exchange for their website and
asked to leave.
Will
they be back with another venture? It remains to be seen as despite the problems
faced, they're now a hot commodity and their skills are much in demand!
Ask.com takes over
Ask.fm - New Management, more Safety and anti-cyberbullying
Ask.fm's involvement in Safer Internet Day 2015 is
thus a part of the IAC ongoing commitment to preventing cyberbullying and
making a positive brand associating with the Q&A Social Network despite its
toxic past.
 |
They've
invested in moderation and Filtering technology with a staff of sixty (60) plus
persons focused on real-time moderation of posts to enable a response within twenty
four (24) hours.
The
company even has a Safety advisory board consisting of the World's top thinkers
and digital safety experts, with former global head of content standards at
Vodafone, Annie Mullins, as the UK and Europe safety lead for Ask.fm as noted in the article “Ask.fm's
new owners vow to crack down on bullying or shut the site”, published
Tuesday 19 August 2014 11.20 BST by Alex Hern, the UK Guardian.
Unlike
the Latvian Brothers, Ilja and Mark Terebin, who were pretty much Data Pirates
managing a popular Social Network with little or no oversight, IAC has the
financial muscle and contacts to make the necessary changes to comply with the
requests of the British as well as American Justice system.
Most
recently in November 2014, Ask.fm was relocated to
a new Server in Ireland from its old hosting platform in Riga, Latvia as noted
in “Ask.fm,
The Social Network Linked To Teen Suicides, Is Moving To Ireland”,
published NOV. 3, 2014, 5:42 AM by Joshua Barrie, Business Insider and “Ask.fm site to
relocate to Ireland from Latvia”, published Monday 03 November 2014 18.56, RTE.
Sponsoring
Safer Internet Day 2015 is just a part of the continued evolution of Ask.fm into a more social responsible Q&A Social
Network. It's ok to ask questions…....just don't hold it against me and use
your anonymity to bully members of the rapidly growing Social Network
Ask.fm is set to take over from Twitter and become
the next big thing since Snapchat as noted in my blog article
entitled “Global
Web Index indicates Snapchat is King - Why Tumblr and Pinterest on the rise as
Facebook has higher engagement levels”.
Here’s
the link:
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