What could have been a horrible situation was turned around by an outpouring of love.
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Wednesday started like any normal day. Then we learned that The Good Men Project’s Facebook page had been hacked. While we do all that we can to prevent an event like this, it’s happened to bigger companies than GMP. In fact maybe we should be flattered that we were big enough to be an attractive target.
We have a new respect for the folks at Facebook. They not only took it seriously, they took action fast. We also have a new respect for our Executive team. Our publisher, Lisa Hickey, spent tireless hours collecting information, monitoring activity, and staying in touch with the Facebook team while the issue was resolved and the page returned to our control.
When our Facebook Admins got control of the page again they responded to every single message that had come in. And responded again to the responses to our responses, refusing to be satisfied until all of our fans had been reassured, thanked, and virtually hugged for their support.
But we have the MOST respect for our fans and writers, the people who create our brand with their words every day, and the people who support our brand by reading those words every day.
Because, although the hackers were sending out posts and pictures that were certainly objectionable, we only lost about 1,000 of the more than 355 THOUSAND people who have liked our page. Sure, not all of them saw those posts, but most of the ones who did stuck with us.
Because they know our writers, our editors, our BRAND. They knew that wasn’t us. The majority of the messages we answered said, “You’ve been hacked!” They told us how much they usually enjoyed our site, and how they hoped we’d take action fast because they wanted the “good men” back.
So we’re tipping our hats to the folks at Facebook, and to our team who worked hard to do the right thing as fast as possible. But we’re raising our glasses to the family of writers and readers who make The Good Men Project what it is, a place to have the conversation no one else is having.
Thanks to everyone who helped the “good guys” win on Wednesday. Here’s a sampling of comments taken from the slew of supportive messages that came out of Wednesday’s “Hack Attack.”
You have a great site…glad it’s yours again!!
(So are we!)
That’s ok. Happens to the best of us. You’re doing a great job, keep up the good work!
No worries at all. Thanks for getting back to me. Keep up the awesome work you’re doing. Cheers!
I enjoy very much you posts. Keep up!
I enjoy having quality pages around and see them do well, so thank you as well.
i hope everything is ok… your page has got to be one of the best around in this network… i’ll support it in any way i can to keep it going…
(Believe us when we say that notes like these were much needed support on a day like Hack Attack Wednesday.)
It is all good. I love your stuff and it has really helped me through some stuff. Keep up the great work!!!
Keep in with your noble and enlightened cause!! I live in small town Canada and really struggle with all of the masculinity “norms” in a redneck culture…
(Helping people through stuff and offering different perspectives of masculinity are a couple of reasons we exist. Pretty awesome to be told we’re making a difference.)
Yay!! Good work Good Men!!!
Then, right in the middle of all the messages about the Hack Attack, was this heartening note:
I doubt you’ll actually get this, but thank you! I read a lot of your blog and it’s helped me realize my self worth, need to be respected and the fact that besides what I think, I am worth it. You’re doing great. I blog too! Enjoy! iteachthere4iam.blogspot.com.
I think it’s really cool that you talk to your readers in a personal level. There have been so many blogs that you write that have helped me realize who I am, what I deserve and what a loving real relationship looks like.
(Of course we DID get it and responded. And loved her blog and her adorable puppy. And posted her comment to our private writer’s forum. And all of us drank in that validation like weary warriors in a desert land.)
I think Executive Editor, Kathryn DeHoyos, may have said it best in one of her responses to a Facebook message:
We have an amazing community of readers, so many messages that were telling us that they KNEW it wasn’t us because we would never promote content like that. It was so heartening to see that our community really rallied behind us. Both in the messages, in the comments on those horrible posts, in PMs and emails to the leadership team…it was really amazing to see.
Yeah. It was almost worth experiencing Hack Attack Wednesday just to feel the love.
Also read: The Cyber Abuse of Hacking and Malware by Warren Blumenfeld
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Photo: Flickr/Kumar’s Edit