Using Social Media for Crisis Communication

Al-Hakim Mclaurin

COMM 6090

Final Term Paper: Using Social Media for Crisis Communication

May 13, 2014

We live in a society that is continually affected by various natural disasters. Natural disasters such as hurricanes, tsunamis, and forest fires have plagued this nation throughout history and are all considered crises. Also and organizational crisis, such as corporation misdoings are huge crises that play a huge role in society. Regardless of where you live or the kind of work you do, many different types of crisis have the potential to significantly disrupt your life. If I were to put in my terms, crisis communications is how an organizations deals with a crisis which is plain and simple. Social media has evolved from a simple interactive social networking tool to what is now considered an overall crucial element in crisis response. When discussing media it is safe to note that media consist of internet, television, radio and newspaper. All of these outlets are faced with a difficult struggle trying to find a balance between ethical and moral responsibilities. Social media outlets are obliged to report accurately and objectively but often times conflict with this obligation. Deciding which media outlet to watch or read depends on the points of view of the particular individual watching. While many like to believe that the news and all media are unbiased and only present facts but truth be told this not the case. In fact, many of the major news organizations are biased and quite opinionated. It is the way in which this information is presented from different media outlets that sways public opinion and shapes the audience’s awareness and perception of what is going on in society.

Crisis communications focuses more on managing the outcome, impact, and the public perception of a crisis. Too add on, it is messages that are integrated and critical elements of a five-part overall crisis management process that includes Detection, Prevention, Containment, Recovery, and Learning. Originally crisis communications sole purpose was to generate strategic post crisis responses that reduced and in most cases shift, blame and responsibility. Now it’s associated with coordination of resources such as equipment, personnel, and information to avoid or reduce harm for coordinating resources during post-crisis support and recovery that can better known as risk identification. Crisis communicators have the gifted ability to form how a crisis and the organization are viewed by public perception.

Initial Crisis Response Best Practices

1. Be quick and try to have initial response within the first hour.

2. Be accurate by carefully checking all facts.

3. Be consistent by keeping spokespeople informed of crisis events and key message points.

4. Make public safety the number one priority.

5. Use all of the available communication channels including the Internet, Intranet, and mass notification systems.

6. Provide some expression of concern/sympathy for victims

7. Remember to include employees in the initial response.

8. Be ready to provide stress and trauma counseling to victims of the crisis and their families, including employees.

With new developments in technology, people around the world now have the ability to watch as a major disaster happens.  One of the purposes of this paper is to demonstrate how crisis communications is important today now more than ever with media (new and traditional) proliferation increasing the exposure of the crisis, and new media particularly social media, which adds to creating this exposure. Social media can deter organizations crisis communications by allowing false information to rapidly spread. Being as though there is nobody to monitor the false information someone may post, there is no way of proven whether information is reliable or someone is maliciously trying to ruin an organization’s reputation. I believe that a quick, clear, honest response from an official organizational representative can eliminate someone of the flow of false rumors. Mainly, social media is used to gather and communicate information since it empowers everyday people to share what they see with the world.

“Social media does have many pros in the event of a crisis. Yes it has helped officials with relying on witness’s personal photos and videos that become circulated to identify important information” (Lewis, 2012). When using social media there is the ability to have a two way flow of communication. People can respond and react to the information they receive, and allow others can to view these responses as well. The audience has some degree of feedback into the information and how it affects them because they have a firm amount of control with the information. Whereas with the traditional media, there is only a one- way communication flow.  During many national crises such as the Boston Bombing and the Newton School shootings, social media helped police officials in identifying the victims and suspects in each case as well as providing others with a steady flow of information.

During the Newton School Shootings, misinformation quickly swamped news reports as the media attempted to keep the world with updated information. During this horrible tragedy which took place at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton, Connecticut, gunman Adam Lanza shot and killed 26 people, as well as 20 young children.  Being as though 20 small children in the United States were brutally murdered, this story became a huge global matter. The desire to be first rather than be accurate created a huge problem in the media which is very much prevalent.  The problem of the need to be first has affected how and when the media handles a fast breaking issue. CNN, a trusted global news source, is one of the biggest media organizations that have received great criticism for its negligent and inconsistent reporting during the crisis. In CNN’s coverage of shooting, many noteworthy errors were made. First, the Killings were wrongly linked to handguns. Secondly, there was substantial confusion about the identity of the shooter and how many shooters there were.

On April 15, 2013, two bombs which were made from pressure cookers exploded near the finish line of the Boston Marathon killing three people and injuring over 250 others. After the initial reports of the explosions, twitter became a vital tool for those looking for more information. “A quarter of Americans got information about the devastating explosions and the hunt for the bombers on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, according to a report from the Pew Research Center” (Petrecca USA Today). These results show that people stayed abreast with the bombing via social media, relying solely on the accuracy of these non credible sources.

Pros & Cons to Social Media Crisis

PROS

•           It allows messages to reach a global scale in a split second and hence enables mobilization of resources around the world

•           Heightens situational awareness

•           Aids organizations to appeal directly o the public, bypassing the traditional medium of communication

•           Used to defend reputation or image

CONS

•           May reduce the amount of face-to-face communication we have with one another, diminishing on interpersonal communication skills

•           Information can be spread in a negative way at massive speed

•           Crisis Trigger in forms of rumors, hacking, security breaks, & cyber terrorism

Social media in crisis is a contentious topic because there are both pros and cons that outweigh each other. “Mainstream media puts a spotlight on the crisis while social media amplifies the crisis” (Holmes report, 2012).  The more something is being discussed over social media, the more people tend to react and express emotions about the story. This importance of this story will be evident because it is everywhere they look. The new digital age of social media is more likely to trust social media more than traditional news mediums because it is current and interactive. Personally, I feel as though news coming from opinionated people on social media can be very bias and not credible. Being as though social media is a new happening, I find it that for older individuals it may be harder to grasp its value and significance. I know from personal experience, my grandmother who is now 73 years of age is so frustrated with the advance s of technology that she has never used or visited any social networking tools. She even hates the fact that her phone provider made her upgrade her phone and now she does not understand it. “And what is this nonsense?” she asked as she pointed to the applications from Facebook and Twitter on her phone.  New technologies and innovations are simply more appealing to younger generations. The more new social media platforms surface, it appears to become necessary to keep up with the developments in the modern technology-conscious society. This is why it is necessary to be cognizant of social media’s significance and its effect on present culture.

I found it extremely fascinating over the course of this semester to dive deeper into the world of new media. With the knowledge obtained from this course and the Media Ecology, I truly feel that I understand the true essential of new media. By studying Marshall McLuhan theories I truly understand that media is an true extension of ourselves. Although Robert Logan begins to explain further that he believes media starts to extend itself, I truly believe that media is an extension of ourselves and it is up to a particular individual on how they want to use media.

Works Cited

Petrecca, Laura. “Social Media Informs Many, Frustrates Some, after Boston Marathon Bombing.” USA Today, Gannet, 23 Apr, 2013. Web. Nov. 2013

Laadanjali, and Gerald Lewis. “ Role of Social Media in Crisis Communication.” (2012): n. pag.  Web.

Mishra, Guarav, “How Social Media Is changing News and Crisis: The Crisis Curve Framework.” How Social Media Is changing News and Crisis: The Crisis Curve Framework.  The Holmes Report, 29 Jan. 2012. Web.03 Nov. 2013.

American Public Health Association. (n.d.). Special Report: Expert Round Table on Social Media and Risk Communication During Times of Crises – Strategic Challenges and Opportunities. Retrieved from http://www.apha.org/.

Gonzales-Herrero, A., & Smith, S. (2008). Crisis communications management on the web: How Internet-based technologies are changing the way public relations professionals handle business crises. Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, 16(3), 143-163.

Levs, Josh. "Boy, 8, One of 3 Killed in Bombings at Boston Marathon; Scores Wounded." CNN. Cable News Network, 01 Jan. 1970. Web. 03 May 2014. <http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/15/us/boston-marathon-explosions>.

"Sandy Hook Elementary Shooting: What Happened?" CNN. Cable News Network, 06 Jan. 2013. Web. 1 May 2014. <http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2012/12/us/sandy-ho