Crisis Management in the Age of Social Media

Social media has fundamentally changed the contract between institutions and the public. Today, people expect a conversation, not a one-way diatribe. That, combined with the speed of the Internet, changes the game for many companies in anticipating, managing, and ultimately avoiding an “instant crisis”—an instant crisis example is when Verizon added a $2 charge for all their customers; one hour later 100,000 signatures appeared on a Twitter petition, and soon Verizon was in the middle of a huge public relations crisis. Inside this book, you’ll learn just how to manage this type of situation and meet the challenges of social media. Each chapter includes a description of a crisis, the timeliness of a good response, the effectiveness of this response, and an assessment of what works and what doesn’t. Some examples of social media crises include Apple Computer, Netflix, JetBlue, Bank of America, Fed Ex, and public figures such as Anthony Weiner, Ashton Kutcher, and Jon Bon Jovi.