Crisis Management - Response & Social Media
The impact of instant social media commentary, rather than column inches is now a much harder force to manage, taking place alongside (or during) your response. An individual's criticism now doesn't have to be the truth; it just has to be 'liked'.
Case Study: Mumbai Attack 2008
Lashkar-e-Taiba carried out a series of attacks across the city simultaneously. Our team had five people in the affected locations at the time. We had an experienced team of mixed nationalities, people well-versed in crisis response, and we all knew each other very well. Some of our group were local nationals in India, and we took the decision early on to remove them from the response team because of the sensitivity of the situation. Instead, we managed the incident remotely as a small team located in various locations outside of India. Our main concern was the extent of the attack and how quickly it was escalating.
Social media management was one challenge that we didn't have to deal with in this crisis. It would undoubtedly be very different today.
The Impact of Social Media During a Crisis
The role of social media in the world has evolved significantly since the Mumbai attacks. The first time we began to see Social Media play a significant role in crises on a global scale was during the Arab Spring. Though we can't be sure if it was a causal factor, it certainly added fuel to the fire, particularly in Egypt in 2011.
Looking at later significant events, we can see how this has further evolved:
Houses of Parliament Attack March 2017 – The visibility of the attack was unprecedented. Clear photographic evidence was shown across the mainstream media.
London Bridge Attack 2019 – Photos circulated on social media showed the attacker being shot at close range, again directed across the mainstream media.
Vienna Attack 2020 – A video of the close-range shooting was live-streamed on social media at various points in the event.
In summary, social media has created a need for 24/hour news feeds. Previously, (pre-2000) news was always carefully edited before broadcasting. Reputable news sources were focused on reporting accurate, unbiased information. The '3 Vs' were of equal importance.
Social media has since become the primary source of information alongside mainstream media. As a result, people now expect to be able to access information instantly. The emphasis on veracity has declined, superseded by the demand for velocity.
Misinformation
The spread of misinformation on social media, and the speed at which it spreads, is unprecedented in the age of COVID-19. This poses a whole new set of problems to your organisation and its crisis management plans.
In a crisis, we must consider the speed at which information becomes available to the public at large. Because of this, your organisation must consider the reliability of the news received during a crisis, and how that affects your decision-making. We must also consider reputation and exposure.
During a live crisis, understanding the reality of the situation on the ground becomes marred when rumours are circulating, making decision-making incredibly difficult.
One of the most effective ways to mitigate this problem is to ensure your crisis management planning involves a robust communications strategy. During crisis response, you must prioritise managing your strategic communications, both internally and externally. This is crucial for reputational management.
In your crisis management plan, responsibility for managing communications should be allocated to one reliable team member with a good understanding of your organisation's internal and external comms strategy. This strategy should consider how and when the information will be disseminated to members of the team affected. It must also include senior management, the broader organisation, the families of those involved, and the public. HR and PR departments should be engaged in this process.
In summary, social media response is now an integral part of your crisis planning, and it must be adequately understood and managed to prevent misperceptions of your actions overtaking realities on the ground.
That completes the second session; we will be publishing the third anf final session next week. If you would like to learn more about what type of Crisis Management training and support we can offer your team in person or online please contact us now.