Examples of Social Media Uses During a Crisis (Chapter 12)
Social media are effective for informing people during a crisis, which is another reason why organizations should pay attention to them. In a case study of Scott Monty’s response to a Ford Motor Company social media crisis, Monty used Twitter to communicate with key stakeholders during the crisis. The entire crisis ended as a simple misunderstanding and was remedied in less than 24 hours because of Monty’s monitoring and use of social media. Monty’s most effective strategy was to ask his followers to re-tweet his posts, which spread accurate news about the crisis. Through this, Monty was able to reach an average of 747 additional people for each re-tweet posted. This case study, and other social media responses like it, demonstrate that organizations must use social media to inform people during a crisis. Otherwise, the damage caused by the crisis will be much more severe and the organization will be criticized later for its oversight of social media.
Another example of using social media for crisis communication is the American Red Cross. The Red Cross uses social media during a crisis to inform key stakeholders, the media, and the public of new developments. Web 2.0 technologies are used by the Red Cross to inform people during a crisis, such as during the California Wildfires of 2007. Sites like Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, and Utterz are used by the Red Cross on its online newsroom website. In addition, the Red Cross has its own Twitter account, but this should not be surprising. A recent study found that social media are far more effective at informing and connecting people during emergencies than the mass media and official government channels. Thus, the Red Cross has been commended for its use of social media technologies to inform people during a crisis. Other organizations should seek to emulate the Red Cross because social media has become an integral part of crisis communication.