Q&A on Social Media and Crisis Management ― An Interview with Oliver S. Schmidt

While social media offers new ways to communicate, it must be systematically monitored to enable effective social media use in times of crisis. following is a Q&A session with Oliver S. Schmidt, managing partner of C4CS.

Q: Mr. Schmidt, how do you define social media and is social media going to have a lasting impact on crisis management and related fields?

A. The term social media stands for online social networking services such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, to name a few well known ones. Social media offers new ways to communicate with others and build relationships without ever having to physically meet. That applies to personal as well as business relationships, including those that are forged in preparation for or as a result of a natural disaster, an epidemic outbreak, or an industrial accident.

No doubt about it, social media is here to stay. This year smart phones will likely take over as tech device number one for social sharing, which means more and more people will use social media on the go. Professionals in business continuity planning, crisis communication, emergency management, and related fields will ultimately follow the users and embrace social media’s capabilities including open communication and crowdsourcing in order to engage stakeholders.

Q: for years, you have spoken about the need to systematically monitor the internet due to the risks posed by instant, global and uncensored online communication. How has the rise of social media affected this need to monitor online content?

A. The need to monitor online and especially social media content has dramatically risen over the past ten years and will continue to increase. My concerns in regard to the risks posed by social media are closely related to two challenges. First, we must always be aware of the potentially damaging characteristics of social media. And second, in order to employ social media effectively, crisis managers must develop and implement social media strategies that are tailored to the specific organization.

Q: What aspects of social media are you particularly concerned about?

A. You mentioned it in your previous question. Social media is instant, global and uncensored. Each of these characteristics has tremendous benefits when it comes to crisis management, but there are drawbacks, too. For example, a large and steadily growing number of stakeholders not only consume crisis related information online, but they also engage in citizen journalism. That means they generate their own subjective and sometimes deliberately inaccurate or misleading online content which may be distributed globally in a matter of seconds. Unfortunately, traditional mass media are compounding the problem because reporters are scanning social media for story ideas as well as crisis related information and may end up publishing false information that can trigger or exacerbate crises.

Another social media trait that can hinder an effective crisis response and create long term reputational issues is the fact that while social media content can easily be created and syndicated, it does not automatically vanish after a certain period of time. Once it has been published, inaccurate information, including rumors and false accusations, can spread rapidly, for instance via RSS and “retweeting”. And once mass information sharing via social media has begun, it cannot be stopped or undone unless the negative content is removed by each individual user or, as almost never happens, by the particular social networking service. Incorrect and damaging social media content will hence continue to spread and is unfortunately going to be available and searchable online indefinitely.

Q: What goes into the development of a social media strategy so it fits the needs of the organization?

A. Those involved in crisis management and related fields must first identify which social media tools the organization’s stakeholders, including its employees, are using. Knowing what is happening online, establishing a Social Media Policy, identifying and engaging relevant influencers who double as information hubs, and creating a strong social media following across various stakeholder groups are essential steps on the way to effective social media use.

Furthermore, realistic goal setting, senior management support, qualified internal and external project management, and a holistic approach to crisis management that incorporates functional areas such as operations, business continuity planning, corporate communication, IT, etc. are required. Depending on the needs and priorities of these functional areas, technical aspects, questions regarding stakeholder management, legal issues, etc. must be discussed and flow into a social media strategy that serves as an integral part of the crisis management strategy and is linked to the organization’s strategic goals.

Q: And finally, what must an organization do in order to use social media effectively once a crisis occurs?

A. While the specifics always depend on the particular organization and a thorough situational assessment, an effective crisis response will ideally come down to executing a crisis management strategy that includes a comprehensive social media component.

It is important to remember that stakeholder engagement via social media must be geared toward building social capital and stakeholder trust well before a crisis occurs. This should be done through continuously reaching out to and fostering strong relationships across various stakeholder groups so that in the event of a crisis the affected company, government agency or nonprofit organization is viewed not as an adversary, but as a trusted partner its stakeholders turn to in order to receive crisis related information and support.