The Role of Social Media in Corporate Crisis Communication

Objectives This study aimed to find out how the emergence of social media and its various platforms have changed corporate crisis communication. It also aimed to look at how companies utilize social networking channels in their crisis communication. The final objective for the paper was to find out if the general guidelines of crisis communication apply to communication through social media networking channels. Summary The study was conducted as a combination of a literature review on current research about crisis communication, and interviews of crisis communication professionals. The literature review identified the key crisis communication theories and the interviews built on those by asking more social media specific questions from the professionals. Conclusions It was identified in this study that the nature of crisis communication has changed due to the emergence of social media. Crises can develop much faster in social media and often, communication must be faster too. However, the general guidelines and theories of crisis communication usually still apply, but the companies must consider the often-intensifying effect of social media. According to this paper, companies can utilize social media in their crisis communication by using it before a crisis arises, using Twitter to communicate quickly, and addressing crises in the channels were the audience is discussing it