When a rumor becomes apparent truth

Reputation and standing are precious assets: for private individuals, people in the public sphere and also for companies. Online, they are easy to shake due to high speed of distribution and wide reach. If the reputation is ruined, it can mean the end of the business activity or the professional career. In order to counteract this, there are Revolvermänner. 

"Being in the public eye is a constant ride on the razor's edge, especially online," says Christian Scherg, founder and CEO of Revolvermänner, whose focus is on reputation management and crisis communications.

Their customers have very different backgrounds: Companies, associations, institutions and also private individuals, politicians, people of public interest - in fact anyone who wants to protect and safeguard their reputation. And the danger on the Internet is greater than in the analog world - not only because the half-life is significantly longer than in print media.

The name Revolvermänner goes back to the "Old West". When help was urgently needed, they were hired. Even today, the Revolvermänner around Christian Scherg are requested in crises, ideally before the situation escalates. But there is also a plan for escalation. Especially in such situations it is important to keep a cool head, to be structured, to communicate quickly and clearly. Not only online, but also in the analog world. This is their great strength. They develop individual reputation strategies tailored to their clients, in acute cases and preventively. Basically, as Scherg sees it, it's a balancing act between three courses of action: Deleting, suppressing and dealing with the content:

1. Deleting : The platform determines how easily content can be deleted 
2. Suppressing : this means directing the viewer's attention to the positive and overlaying the negative news with it. Technically, this can be achieved, for example, by using the suggestion service of search engines to deliver positive results - especially important because negative news is clicked on more often anyway, and even more so when it is displayed first. 
3. Content-based debating : "We can't simply erase topics from the collective memory," says Scherg. Whether true or false, those affected must process the accusations and expect to be confronted with negative reports in the future as well. As a result, affected individuals must have answers when they are asked about negative things. This can also mean to tackle negative topics very offensively. 

For Christian Scherg, it is important that society relearns how to deal with information in the digital age. Instead of classic media, many people only almost use Facebook, Instagram and Co. as a source of information. That makes it all the more important to check information and use diverse media. Just because a rumor appears more frequently and in various digital media does not mean it is the truth.

Anyone can become a victim and anyone can become a perpetrator

Internet without hate is not possible and not the goal. Scherg is convinced of that. There will always be hate on the Internet. It acts like a lightning rod which people use to discharge their anger. Often it has nothing to do with the other person. In order to control hate, it is important to find out what is going on under the surface in a society and ihe Internet is the right place for unloading. Online you can track moods and also control hate to a certain extent - it's almost the simpler method, the less dangerous one, says Christian Scherg. But it's still bad for those who are affected, of course, and there's no question that crimes must be prosecuted. However, it's better to find out early on how, where and against whom issues and negative emotions become an explosive mix and what makes the dark side of society tick than to close your eyes and only react. Interesting thesis, because we as Telekom do, after all, stand for an internet without hate. This as our goal and we communicate it.

Anyone can potentially become a victim, but also a perpetrator. "As a society, we have a duty to look out for each other. That is part of our social consensus. Otherwise, we don't need a society," says Scherg. 

Joint Podcast „Digital Crime“ 

More from Christian Scherg and the Revolvermänner can be found on their homepage and in our new podcast series "Digital Crime: When Words Become Weapons". In it, the topic of hate on the Internet is examined from different perspectives and with interesting protagonists: From hate speech to gaming, from hate against women to customers who become haters.