Page 14 - IB Dec 2020

Pacific People of the Year Pacific People of the Year

specifically ‘kindness pandemic’ pages members in seven days and that is when they got slammed, followed by Indo-
which offered positive messages and another two friends came on board to Fijian males, followed by Fijian women.
stories in response to COVID-19. help. Dutta drafted some moderation And then Fijian men just let each other
Meanwhile, looking for solutions to guidelines which they discussed, and do whatever each other wanted. So in
what was clearly an impending econom- which were underpinned by principles that order, we could see it. So we had
ic crisis, Dutta started to study bar- of kindness. to ensure that we were taking note of
ter—both the historical experience of “The majority of people liked the what was happening and how to best
barter around the globe as a response to space, they actually liked having a speak to that.
crisis—and how it might be modernised. space where swearing wasn’t allowed, “And I keep reminding the other
She thought it could be an easy sell where you couldn’t run anyone down, admin people, this is a just a cross
for Fijians. “People here understand where you couldn’t name and shame, section of society because whatever is
barter, they claim it as part of their and just kept comments positive, you happening there, will happen here. And
tradition, so there is that ownership of couldn’t make fun of people, and it was that’s just a fact of life, so all we can
the concept. It is something we have refreshing for a lot of people, especially do is encourage [kindness], and it has
continually done in smaller spaces and for our women and our older mem- reduced, it really has.
smaller circles. So for those reasons I bers, you could see that coming along “That’s why we keep going back to
felt it might be something worthwhile. strongly.” one statement. At this time when you
I had no idea it would mushroom out to The team also had to learn about and have nothing, when other people have
what it became but I just felt like it hit respond to local laws such as biosecurity nothing, the one thing everyone has to
a few spots that people would resonate regulations and restrictions on the trade give is kindness. It doesn’t cost anybody
with.” of Walesi (TV set top boxes), as well as anything and it just lifts everybody’s
More than six months after it comply with Facebook’s global condi- spirit and other people run with that,
launched on April 21, the Barter for tions of use relating to the age of users they take it off the page.”
Better Fiji Facebook page had over and trade in animals.
190,000 members and by a conservative “For our farming communities and The biggest lesson
estimate, more than 30,000 successful other people that’s what they have, On May 27, the United Nations Devel-
trades. Traders range from government whether it’s chickens or ducks or pigs or opment Programme in the Pacific an-
ministers to subsistence farmers and goats or cows. Facebook has a blanket nounced Barter for Better Fiji as one of
have spawned a range of more localised statement that you can’t trade or sell the successful initiatives in its Sustain-
pages, and micro and small enterprises. live animals and that is to protect the able Livelihoods Challenge. Individuals,
Before launching, Dutta tested her endangered [species]. You understand organisations, community groups, pri-
idea with a trusted group of friends, the reasoning, but it didn’t quite fit for vate sector companies and associations,
two of whom quickly came on to help, us. So that was really really hard.” research and academic institutions had
particularly as she started as a casual Dutta said positive messaging—espe- been invited to pitch their ideas and in-
Facebook user, unaware of the many cially if posts had to be removed—has novations in response to COVID-19, with
features and functions the platform been very important. The moderators the opportunity to receive US$10,000 to
provides. try to provide other options or contacts support and scale their ideas.
“I remember having a conversation if they have to remove a post that falls For Barter for Better Fiji, it was an
and I was told, just start and you will foul of local laws or Facebook condi- opportunity to work with local commu-
learn. If you wait until everything is tions. nications company, Greenhouse Studio,
in order you will never start it, so just Barter for Better Fiji encourages to build a website. Dutta said they were
do it and you will learn along the way, debate if it is respectful. Fiji’s social excited by the possibilities a website
you’ll teach yourself. That was the media spaces can be poisonous; a place could provide in terms of back-engine
plan, but having 2000 members in two where a small number of people display management and analytics, to offer op-
days meant there was a huge, steep hateful, vicious behaviour. Dutta said tions for people who were not on (and
learning curve. Luckily people were dealing with the online trolls has been had no intention of joining) Facebook,
encouraging right from the first go, and mentally and emotionally draining, but as well as the possibility of making
a lot of them were giving me pointers, “we knew that we had to be on top of trading more inclusive, for example, for
telling me what I should do to moderate it.” blind users.
and how I could do it better, and that’s “It was incredible, we could see the However their success made them a
how I learnt…but the taking it slow and patterns, who gets attacked and then target. “One of Fiji’s prolific trollers
learning to train myself, that went out how to respond to that. So by far, Indo- started attacking us online, why we got
of the window very fast,” she said with Fijian females got the most attacks, by the grant, how we got the grant and so
a big laugh. everybody, if any of them put up some- in his head we failed on many different
The page grew to close to 20,000 thing that was deemed ‘unworthy’, boy criteria, the first one being we were not

14 Islands Business, December 2020