Respectfully, GOS should have an experienced social media person run socials

tinymonster

I absolutely love GrapheneOS and everything the project stands for. But, and I say this with the utmost respect, the social media accounts are used far too often for debunking and calling out claims made by others.

I understand that this is important information, but maybe it would be better as a blog post or similar on the site, rather than repeated, consecutive social media replies.

It gives the overall GrapheneOS project an unwelcoming tone, even though GrapheneOS is completely in their right to fight these baseless claims.

Overall, I think GrapheneOS could benefit from having a PR/social media professional run the social accounts. This would transition the social media accounts from being used as just an avenue for debunking claims, and more for announcements of new features, collaborations, and overall public relations.

I want to make it absolutely clear that GrapheneOS certainly has a right to debunk baseless claims and they definitely should, but maybe that being the majority of the GOS social media presence is not the best way of going about things.

Just my thoughts, I hope I have not offended anyone, I truly do appreciate the GOS team and everything they have done.

userofgos

tinymonster I understand that this is important information, but maybe it would be better as a blog post or similar on the site, rather than repeated, consecutive social media replies.

Unfortunately, the majority of those spreading misinformation about GrapheneOS and PrivSec are doing so in bad faith and won't bother reading blog posts and instead will continue spreading unsubstantiated claims that misleads many that are unaware, and it would be much worse to not say anything at all.

1qkv9ddu3so2irvz

I'm 50% with you. I also see that the rather aggressive approach can be a disadvantage for GOS and the overall privacy and security movement.
BUT: As a user, I also have to say that I like this uncompromisingness. Like a badass warrior fighting for his life to protect me and everybody else.
HOWEVER: Both can be combined I think … there must be a middle ground somewhere. So what I wouldn't want is GOS to be represented in this standard way, being polite to everybody despite their nonsense, but still respectful.

userofgos

1qkv9ddu3so2irvz As a user, I also have to say that I like this uncompromisingness

Exactly! And this isn't very common amongst the businesses/services that are in the PrivSec market.

Unfortunately a great deal of them are grifters or just marketing their products and don't care to address and fix the issues with their Privacy products when they are pointed out.

tinymonster

Additionally, in many cases, I would never would have heard about these harmful claims if not for the posts from GOS. One could argue that bringing up these claims so often spreads them further than not discussing them.

userofgos

tinymonster One could argue that bringing up these claims so often spreads them further than not discussing them.

No, not when they are debunking them in the first place. I've had many misconceptions that were corrected by just reading the GrapheneOS project accounts replies. I and many others would still fall prey to those lies and misinformation if they stayed silent.

edent

I've worked for very large telcos (feel free to check my LinkedIn) and with a number of handset manufacturers. I've been on the teams which launched various BlackBerry models, the FirefoxOS device, and others. I've done social media work for large Government departments and private businesses.

What professional organisations want is calmness and predictability. A media announcement needs to be checked in advance with all partners to make sure it doesn't conflict with any marketing plans or contradict any previous statements. Anything which is likely to have a material impact on markets also needs to be checked by legal etc.

The last thing you want is your partner suddenly putting out a press release which makes wild claims - even if those claims are justified. It creates uncertainty in the market and makes you look erratic.

Most companies keep their public facing announcements calm, civil, and bland for a reason. They don't want to air their laundry in public and they don't want to antagonise their partners.

I haven't worked with Motorola in a long time. I've no idea whether they're happy with the way GrapheneOS's social media is being run. They may like it as a "rebel" / "edgy" brand. But, based on my experience in the industry, they're probably somewhere between nervous and irritated.

Personally, I kind of like the fact that GrapheneOS is passionate about its reputation. Users, on the other hand, seem to find it at best off-putting and at worse a liability.

I have previously tried to privately talk to GrapheneOS about this on social media - but there didn't seem to be much interest in professionalising their marketing output. Hence why I'm posting this publicly. I suspect they'll probably suspend my account again and accuse me of trying to destabilise them.

MetropleX

Respectfully you really need to ask those we reference, why they think it makes sense to spread false claims about GrapheneOS in the first instance. Everything we do is reactive response and never preemptive, You need to wonder why, when they know we're going to debunk it and they then plead they've ended up getting harmed by it, why they do it. It's not good for either them or us, but they continue doing it. We're not going to stop debunking it.

We are not a company, we are not a product, we have nothing to sell. Everyone that targets us all seemingly can't say the same. They have money to make and products to sell. What we do should be seen in the same vain as a consumer watchdog. Not only do we protect our own interests but also those of hard working and concerned people looking to improve their privacy from being ripped off or misguided.

Respectfully how people see our actions comes down to personal interpretation, we as a project continue to go from strength to strength. The same can't be said for those whom we reveal and allow people to see behind the curtain.