A primer for communications students on how to deal with serious negative incidents on the web and in social media

1. Hang Seng Management College | April 2015
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NO TIME TO THINK
HOW TO RESPOND TO NEGATIVE
INCIDENTS USING SOCIAL MEDIA

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• Accountability
• Transparency
• Authenticity
• Consistency
• Customers
• Civil groups
• Competitors
• Employees
• Globalisation
• Digitisation
• Tribalism
• Activism

3. INCIDENT CRISIS
PROBLEM ISSUE
-SEVERITY+
- LONGEVITY +
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Types of negative situations
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4. • Political pressure
• Regulatory changes
• Religious/cultural/political
controversies
• Societal outrage
• Cyber attacks
• Health scares
• Hostile takeover bids
• Natural disasters
• Political unrest
• Sabotage & extortion
• Corporate/strategic failure
• Corporate governance failure
• Fraud/malpractice
• Poor employee behaviour
• CEO dismissal
• Employee injuries/death
• Industrial disputes
• IT system failures
• Product quality recalls
EXTERNALINTERNAL
ISSUE-LED INCIDENT-LED
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Traditional Achilles Heels
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5. • Reviews & customer service
• Marketing & social media programs
• Inappropriate employee behavior/comments
• Whistleblowing
• Confidential/proprietary information
• Privacy
• IP: impersonation, copyright, trademarks
• Rumors, misinformation, disinformation, defamation
• Smoking guns
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New Achilles Heels
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6. The role of social media
IGNITE AMPLIFY SUSTAIN
Role of social media
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A. Communicate
B. Negotiate
C. Leave
D. Minimize
E. Remove
(Not So New) Response Options
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8. I. The furious customer
II. The rogue employee
III. The hostile journalist
Three common scenarios
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11. • Nature of complaint
• Motivation
• Influence
• Velocity
• Location
• Language
Criteria to assess customer complaints
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12. II
THE ROGUE EMPLOYEE
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Contact approaches
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• Direct & public
• Direct & private
• Indirect & public
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23. III
THE HOSTILE JOURNALIST
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24. The new, new media culture
• Pressure on writers to post fast &
be controversial
• Compensated by page views
• Reluctance to check sources
• ‘Iterative’ journalism
• Headline click-bait
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31. Be interesting
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32. Be interesting
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33. 1. Listen
2. Move fast
3. Be accurate
4. Be open
5. Be human
6. Be proportionate.
6 tips for responding to negative incidents online
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Questions
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