Fall and redemption: Monitoring and engaging in social media conversations during a crisis

AbstractSocial media content can spread quickly, particularly that generated by users themselves. This is a problem for businesses as user-generated content(UGC) often portrays brands negatively and, when mishandled, may turn into a crisis. This paper presents a framework for crisis managementthat incorporates insights from research on social mediausers’ behaviour. It looks beyond specific platforms and tools, to develop general principles for communicating with social mediausers. The framework’s relevance is illustrated via a widely publicised case of detrimental UGC. The paper proposes that, today, businesses need to identify relevant social mediaplatforms, to monitor sentiment variances, and to go beyond simplistic metrics with content analysis. They also need to engage with online communitiesand the new influencers, and to respond quickly in a manner that is congruent with said social mediaplatforms and their users’ expectations. The paper extends the theoretical understanding of crisis managem...