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When your passion becomes your profession, it’s easy to feel like you’ve won the proverbial lottery. But what happens when you aren’t afforded the luxury of signing off at the end of the day?
It’s the perfect digital storm: For consumers, the immersive nature of gaming makes it the ultimate form of escapism. For game platforms and publishers, the always-on, reactive nature of social media makes it a direct line to the core base. However, what this Venn diagram doesn’t account for is the double-edged nature of customer passion for gaming. Left unchecked, what began as a symbiotic relationship can quickly devolve into a breeding ground for threats, doxxing and abuse.
To be clear, it’s absolutely critical that consumers feel encouraged and empowered to provide constructive feedback through formal company channels. But when consumers disagree with choices being made by the company, the response can oftentimes result in a psychologically damaging experience for employees spending their 9-5 on the frontlines online.
In 2016, following a series of harassment incidents involving high-profile gaming professionals in the wake of the industry flashpoint that was Gamergate, Polygon reached out to more than 25 game companies to learn about their policies for protecting employees online. Of that list, eight declined to comment, while an additional 10 did not respond.
Two years later, in 2018, Polygon published an update with statements from industry powerhouse studios and platforms including Riot Games and Nintendo. While encouraging to see even just a few of the bigger names in the industry putting a focus on protecting employees online, unfortunately the majority of companies contacted either declined to comment on the issue or simply did not respond—again.
As evidenced by the industry’s collective reticence to address the topic, widespread mistreatment of employees whose jobs require online engagement still falls largely under the radar. At best, it’s ignored or not taken seriously. At worst, employees are blamed for “making themselves a target” by being too vocal about their work and “inviting the attention” by “trying to be famous.”
Social and community managers show up to work each day with the understanding that one unpopular game update or company decision exposes them to a heightened risk of online abuse. The pressure of feeling like the weight of the brand is on your shoulders can be all encompassing.
While social media managers don’t often formally engage with players, if they openly share any fandom for the titles or systems that they work on, they are quickly identified by the community and can often come to be seen as company representatives.
Similarly, community managers are viewed as a direct line into the company. Tasked with socializing critical game updates, reporting on player feedback and advocating for consumer desires, gaming community managers serve as the most visible conduit between the publisher or platform and the player base.
In recent years, the industry has seen an uptick in fans beginning to find a sense of pride in connecting with these more visible employees online—following personal accounts, engaging in non-work-related content and forming quasi-relationships that make them feel a sense of having inside knowledge of the games and platforms they enjoy. And it’s all fun and games—no pun intended—until a critical bug or unpopular update turns these employees from accessible yet aspirational figures to targets for abuse.
So what can be done to support social and community managers finding themselves caught in a negative feedback cycle? It’s easy to understand how leadership may feel powerless to protect their teams against a nameless, faceless online mob—but here are four key items to add to your inventory that may help.
Start with support
When you’re tasked with reporting on sentiment for an unpopular update, wading through the comments on the brand account while also fielding negative blowback on your own bears a lot of similarities with falling into a pit of sinking sand.
Equipping social and community leads with adequate resourcing, whether that be in-house, agency or contract support, can help alleviate the burden by empowering them with the ability to take breaks, set boundaries and step away from the comment section carnage when necessary.
Make mental health a priority—then put your money where your mouth is
The low lift version of this involves pointing back towards company healthcare benefits and encouraging employees to reach out to providers should they feel the need to talk.
The more impactful version involves proactively lining up mental health resources, removing as many barriers to connecting as possible and ensuring that your employees who are taking the heat online are aware that they have your full support.
Managers should do all they can to reassure and reinforce their social and community leads while they steer the ship through difficult brand moments online.
Grab a few extra chairs and make room at the table
There is no one more dialed into current brand sentiment and perception than your social and community leads. To that end, educating senior leadership on not only the value of social media and community management but also the power of sentiment and share of voice (in contrast with vanity metrics like impressions and views) can help provide companies with critical data that can be used to help mitigate negative fan reaction.
Bring social and community into the room early and allow them the space to provide feedback and insight on changes and updates that may not be perceived well by consumers.
Check in early, check in often
If your brand is weathering a negative cycle online, you know how the posts are doing. You know how the consumers are doing. But do you know how your team is doing?
If you don’t, reach out and ask how they’re feeling. Even small things like checking to make sure they’re eating and drinking water, ensuring that they’re stepping away for breaks and encouraging them to employ as much no-screen time as possible once the workday is over can go a long way to creating a space where they feel safe and supported.
Here’s the reality of working in gaming: Not every decision is going to be popular, and not every game update is going to be met with a round of applause. Gamers are critical, vocal and discerning—and they have every right to be.
However, when that feedback stops being constructive, it’s important that employees on the frontline are equipped with the tools, support and resources they need to effectively navigate the storm while maintaining a healthy work-life balance.