Order from Chaos: Understanding the Interplay of Social Media and Crisis

Communication

W. Timothy CoombsUniversity of Central Florida

Chaos

Old crisis knowledge is useless

Social media changes everything

Social media crises unique

Driving questions

• What is a social media crisis?– What does it mean to use social media in a crisis?

• What are tactical implications for crisis communication?

• What are the strategic implications for crisis communication?

Taxonomy of “Crises”

Crises

DisastersOrganizational

Crises

Central Concerns of Organizational Crises

• Public safety (physical health)• Public welfare (psychological health)• Public perception (reputation)• Operations (business continuity)

Taxonomy Part 2

OrganizationalCrises

TraditionalCrises

Social MediaCrises

Traditional crisis

• Public safety and welfare

Social media crisis

• Public perception (Reputation)

a concern that arises in or is amplified by social media resulting in negative legacy media coverage, changes in business operations, or threatens financial loss

Soci

al M

edia

Cris

is

a rhetorical construction

Sources of social media crises

SocialMedia Crisis

Challengers

Organizational Misuse

DissatisfiedCustomers

Taxonomy Part 3

Social MediaCrisis

StakeholderActions

ChallengesCustomer Complaints

OrganizationalActions

Misuse of Social Media

Organizational misuse

• Inappropriate use (competence)– Apologize and correct

Crisis Connection• Purposeful misuse (moral)

Dissatisfied Customers

• Customer relations, not a crisis– Resolve the concern (opportunity & transparency)

Crisis Connection• Warning of a product harm

Challenges

• Stakeholder claims organization is acting in irresponsible manner– Threat to CSR claims– Threat to reputations

Social media as risk

• Stakeholders take control of organization’s social media– Planned– Spontaneous

• Creates negative messages

Social media as risk

From social media crisis to

Use of social media in a crisis

Implications for crisis communication

• Tactical (tools)• Strategic (how to reach goals)

Tactics by Crisis phase

Pre-Crisis

• Monitoring for threats

• Anticipate channels

Crisis

• Requisite response

• Consistency with channels

• Monitor reactions

Post-Crisis

• Updates• Monitor for

memorials

Major impact on pre-crisis phase

New visibilityNew Tools

New Choices

Increase public visibility

Pre-crisis

Crisis Response

Increase public visibility

Pre-crisis

Crisis Response

Publicly

• Resolve customer complaint– Demonstrate skill and commitment

• Address organizational faux pas• Response to challenge

Tactical: Pre-crisis

• Improve monitoring• Anticipate channels

Monitoring

• Scan social media for warning signs/threats

Anticipate channels

• Control channels tied to brand, even if inactive– EX: Twitter feeds

• Pre-prepared messages• Be active if relevant

Tactical: Crisis Response

Requisite responseConsistency with channels

Same Channel: Fed-ex

Integration: KidCo

Tactics: Post-crisis

• Social media ideal for updating• Identify online memorials

Visibility = Pressure

Challenge is the Nexus of Tactics and Strategy

Paracrisis

• Publicly visible crisis threat that charges an organization with irresponsible or unethical behavior• Associated with challenge crises

Strategy by Crisis phase

Pre-crisis•Assess threats•Select response

Crisis•Select Channel

Post-crisis•Relationship to memorials

Assessment: Origins of challenges

• Organic: values evolve and organization may fall behind

• Expose: disconnect (deception) between organizational words and deeds for responsibility

• Villain: repeated efforts to attack a particular organization or industry

Assessment: Nature of threat

Power

Legitimacy

Urgency

Response choices: Rhetoric

• Accommodation: incorporate challenge into organizational operations

• Adaptation: incorporate some variation of the challenge into the organization

• Rejection: maintain status quo with rationale• Redemption: apologize for the deception and

validate new actions (expose only)

Channel selection

• Indiscriminant: wide dispersion (small seed)– Low cost– Fast and easy– Overlap and repetition

• Selective– Need for cognition by stakeholders

• Public safety driven (why useful in disasters)– Channels used by stakeholders– Focus monitoring on reactions in select social media

Online memorials

• Promote grieving and healing (public welfare)• Should organization create one?– Uni- or multi-vocal

• Should organization link to one?– Contact creators first

• Informed by memory studies

Order?

• New channels = change– Evolution NOT Revolution

• Are “social media” crises (paracrises)• Existing theory appropriate platform– Map tactical use of social media– Understand strategic implications– Add “new” theories and concepts as needed

• Effective strategy never goes out of style

Challenge dynamic: Strategy

Stakeholder Challenge

Assessment

Organizational Response

Stakeholder Reaction

Quiescence or Support

Constraints

Challenge protocol

• Challenger contacts the organization first with demands—petition

Power

• Number of social media channels and ease of use

• Communicative skills of challenger• Past success of challengers

Legitimacy

• Challenge is viewed as acceptable• Evidence others supporting challenge• Legitimacy of the challengers

Urgency

• Challengers commitment to the concern• Reflects threat is long term• Promote need for action

Constraints

• Financial costs of change• Consistency with organizational strategy• Potential benefits from change• Potential damage from status quo