Month: July 2021

The audit process is a plodding, methodical one. Twitter, in December 2020, said it would prioritize brand safety audits with the MRC in conjunction with its commitments to allow the MRC to assess other ad metrics such as viewability, sophisticated invalid traffic filtration and audience measurement. What’s new is that Twitter and the MRC have agreed in writing to the details of a first phase of that brand safety audit process, during which time the MRC will inspect whether Twitter is ready for the audit from an operational, processing and reporting standpoint and whether the company is OK with the methods and disclosures required as part of the audit.

Twitter needs to go through this pre-assessment stage in part because it is an MRC newbie so-to-speak. “This is a pre-load for services that do not have much previous experience with the accreditation process,” said an MRC spokesperson. 

“We will use the findings of this pre-assessment to identify any areas of improvement and agree on high-level recommendations for remediating any gaps,” said Jonathan Lewis, Twitter’s senior director of product management in a company blog post Wednesday.

‘Platforms are extremely sensitive’

Twitter, Facebook and other digital platforms have been reluctant to provide the level of access to their tech and data processes required for MRC audits. They want to protect intellectual property, data security and privacy — and may worry that competitors could get their hands on the information they supply in their audits. 

“There’s a lot of concern on the part of these platforms about our required level of access,” MRC executive director and CEO George Ivie told Digiday in April. But if the companies seek accreditation, they cannot block the “unfettered access” demanded by the MRC, he said at the time, adding, “These platforms are extremely sensitive.”

Twitter actually committed to an MRC audit of its viewability metrics back in 2018. “We had to pause our MRC accreditation process a few years ago in an effort to focus on rebuilding our ad server,” a Twitter spokesperson told Digiday earlier this year. “Once that was completed, we publicly shared our ongoing commitment to this late last year and have since been working closely with the MRC to align on next steps.”

In a survey of media buying executives conducted by Digiday in March 2019, respondents ranked Twitter 8th out of 13 platforms when asked to evaluate the platforms’ levels of brand safety.

Facebook finally starts its MRC audit

Meanwhile, following a delay of Facebook’s own MRC brand safety audit, the company finally kicked it off on Wednesday. Facebook had conducted an internal readiness process in preparation for that audit, rather than doing a pre-assessment in conjunction with MRC. Because the company had prior experience with MRC audits, Facebook was not eligible for the pre-assessment according to MRC policies.

In its description of the audit’s launch, a Facebook spokesperson made note of the connections to the Global Alliance for Responsible Media, the ad industry’s worldwide group pushing the platforms to provide advertisers with better data on how they’re dealing with things like disinformation and illegal goods sales on their sites.  

“As part of our ongoing engagement with GARM (Global Alliance for Responsible Media), we’ve begun an independent audit of our content monetization policies and brand safety controls with the MRC on July 21,” said a Facebook spokesperson in a statement sent to Digiday. “To respect the process, our next update will be when the audit is complete and not before.” The company said it is on pace to complete the audit by the end of the year barring unforeseen circumstances.

Notably, for now, Facebook’s MRC brand safety audit will not encompass GARM’s own standards for the data that platforms supply for the organization’s aggregated transparency reporting. This has been a sticking point in brand safety audit negotiations. Ivie had previously told Digiday, “If Facebook wants to be audited by us, they have to be subject to the [GARM transparency reporting standards-based] audit.” Clearly not, at least not yet. It remains unclear whether those standards have been finalized by GARM; multiple members of the organization have either not responded to or declined requests for an update on the issue. At this point, Facebook is relying on its own outside audit underway by Ernst and Young — a.k.a. EY — to satisfy concerns about the validity of those numbers it delivers for GARM reports.

It remains unclear whether the MRC brand safety audit of Twitter is meant to encompass those GARM standards. The company did not respond to a request for more information in time for publication of this article.

While the internet has exploded with how-to guides for candidates to create the most effective TikTok job application, some commentators are reluctant to embrace a scheme they say could entrench biases.

“Age, race, gender discrimination, sexual or gender identity, national origin, are areas in which it would be easy to discriminate, either on purpose or subconsciously — although how would a candidate ever know why they weren’t selected for an interview?” questioned Dagmar Ebaugh, global head of social media strategy and operations for Atlanta-based environmental, social and governance consultancy, UL.

“To filter them out at the resume level seems like it would probably exclude a large group of qualified candidates,” she added.

Companies using TikTok Resumes also stand to commit “a recruitment fail” by overlooking introverted talent, said a Warsaw-based product manager at a large tech firm, who agreed to speak candidly under anonymity.

“This approach excludes a lot of people for the worst reasons. A humble, introverted person who might otherwise have excellent skills will have a lot of issues making a TikTok,” they said, adding that “incredible talent goes unnoticed” given the way social media has shaped communication.

Favoring extroverts and encouraging appearance-based discrimination are also two reasons Felicia Daniel, HR manager at employee engagement software company TINYpulse, has reservations over TikTok Resumes. She’s concerned about platforms like TikTok Resumes further encouraging the practice of hiring those “who act and look like themselves” and echoes Arkaie’s point on introverts.

“I worry it will benefit the ‘influencer’ type. Someone who is sharing their lives publicly on social media is a much different person than someone who is a bit more private, including myself,” Daniel added.

Yet she concedes there is value for candidates in conveying unique skills via video that will be crucial post-pandemic, like communication and emotional intelligence. TikTok didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Certainly, early TikTok Resumes adopters in the media and entertainment arenas are enthusiastic about assessing the increasingly important skill of social content creation, and as a new avenue for discovering untapped talent.

Influencer marketing agency Whalar has posted job opportunities on TikTok Resumes ranging from entry-level to senior roles. It hired its new associate director of creative and social strategy, Sierra Reed, after she posted this application.

“TikTok Resumes has exciting potential to be another way for us to discover incredible talent who might not see our roles through the more traditional channels,” said Neil Waller, co-founder of Whalar, which has done work with brands like Vodafone and MAC, and has offices in Europe, the U.S. and Australia.

“For example, we’ve always relied on LinkedIn as a recruiting tool, but it’s likely there is a pool of talent out there for some roles that [have] never used LinkedIn. So anything that opens you up to discovering a wider base of talent gets full support from me.”

Likewise, Taryn Crouthers, COO and head of the TikTok Studio at content agency ATTN, is embracing the recruitment innovation she believes TikTok is leading.

“The resume and recruiting process has not evolved in a long time. I hope applicants, hiring managers and businesses are brave enough to try something new,” said Crouthers.

Offering a space for those who want to try something new is where media agency Zenith’s chief talent officer, Sandra Labonte, believes TikTok Resumes has a real edge. Labonte also dismissed concerns linking TikTok Resumes to increased bias and discrimination, pointing out that candidates could opt not to appear in their video and to use other visuals such as collateral from their previous experience.

Zenith has posted roles like e-commerce supervisor and financial analyst to the platform and will monitor the results alongside other recruitment channels, like events and outreach. “Candidates have an added opportunity to demonstrate a transferable skill set if, for example, they are pursuing an area they don’t necessarily have experience in but are looking to get into. That can be harder to do in a static resume,” Labonte added.

Meanwhile, candidates themselves are embracing the tool. Gigi Robinson, a 22-year-old, New York-based, body-image and chronic-illness influencer applied via TikTok Resumes last year for a content intern position at the platform itself. Defying the critics, she feels TikTok Resumes offers a win for accessibility.

“The video and audio elements can let individuals give more context than any cover letter or one-page resume could. People can share more about their journey, and those who need accommodations can share a backstory if they want to,” said Robinson.