The Social Media Opportunity
Utilizing Facebook as a public relations outlet during a time of crisis can improve the overall image and public opinion of the organization in crisis.
Engage Your Social Media Channels During a Crisis
Crisis is an inevitable part of business. However, it’s how your company handles an issue that is the most telling. Social media can ultimately be the deal breaker when it comes to your organization’s ability to effectively communicate to your stakeholders during a time of adversity. Keeping an open, honest line of communication is critical whether you are keeping your stakeholders safe, informing them of an incident, or apologizing for a mistake.
3 Questions to Consider: A Psychologist’s Take on Anthony Weiner
Amidst scandal, Anthony Weiner is still running his campaign. Should he be?
School and University Safety
“Providing a safe place to live, work, and raise a family is the first order of leadership,” says Rob Weinhold, Principal of the Fallston Group. Students work and sometimes live at school; therefore, school leaders must keep student safety as their first priority. A social media crisis management plan is one way that school and university leaders implement to help promote the safety of their students.
College Athletics…Social Media…Crisis Communications
We are all familiar with major news stories involving student athletics which brought their campuses to crisis. Recent stories include: Arkansas football coach Bobby Petrino crashing his motorcycle while riding with his girlfriend; The murder of University of Virginia lacrosse player Courtney Love by her boyfriend and men’s lacrosse player George Hughley; The child abuse charges being filed against former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky. An event doesn’t have to be national news to initiate a crisis that could negatively impact the institution’s brand. Hazing, drug/alcohol abuse, campus crime, the improper use of school facilities…all are events that can escalate into a reputation-damaging crisis. Many colleges and universities are now utilizing social media as a part of their marketing strategy, which brings an additional element into the crisis communications equation. Recently, the College Sports Information Directors of America commissioned a survey of the athletic departments to determine their position on the use of social media, especially during a crisis situation. The survey included 152 four-year institutions, the majority of which (38%) were schools with an enrollment of 1,000-4,999 students. Twenty-five percent of the schools have enrollments of more than 20,000 and 30% have enrollments of 5,000-19,999 students. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A CRISIS HITS – THE RESULTS More than half of the schools participating in the survey reported having had to initiate their crisis communications plans from one-to-three times within the previous 12 months. During the same period, 43% of the institutions had potential reputation-damaging stories discussed on social media sites and 6% reported having seven or more stories of this nature occur. Are colleges and universities prepared to respond effectively when faced with an actual crisis event? Apparently not as only slightly more than 50% of the institutions in the survey reported having an active crisis communications plan in place. Of those schools with a crisis communications plan, only half included social media as an active part of the crisis response scenario. In addition, nearly 60% of the schools have no plan to monitor social media outlets as a part of their crisis communications strategy. This is despite the fact that 98% of the schools have an official athletic department page on Facebook and 96% have active Twitter accounts. HOW TO PREPARE It is not a question of whether a crisis will impact a college campus; it is a question of when. In order to effectively respond to a crisis and minimize the negative impact on an institution’s brand, there are steps that can be taken in advance which will lay the groundwork for success. Establish a crisis communications plan: The plan should include the creation of a team within the institution to lead a crisis response; Include all aspects of electronic communications: Have a plan to use the school’s existing website, create a “dark” web site which can be activated to respond to a crisis, include all of the institution’s social media accounts in the response plan; Actively monitor social media during the crisis: Social media is a two-way form of communication. An element of the crisis plan must include being responsive to social media activity and taking advantage of the ability to communicate directly to stakeholders. Social media is, many times, the way students not only find out about, but follow a crisis. Clear, concise directives should be given during a critical time of need; Confirm the facts – In any crisis situation, effective communication must be accurate. Because social media is immediate, confirm all facts before any information is distributed via traditional or social media channels. There are many more critical elements to an effective crisis communications plan. For more information about crisis and strategic communications, call the Fallston Group at 410.420.2001. The Fallston Group is a crisis management and communications company. Send email inquiries to info@fallstongroup.com.
Casey Anthony Trials: The Social Media Verdict
While Casey Anthony may have been found ‘not guilty’ this Tuesday—the court of public opinion had decided quite the contrary long ago, reacting to the decision with an outpour of disgruntled opinions on Facebook and Twitter. The much awaited verdict of the murder trial was reached on Tuesday when the jury found Casey Anthony, mother of 2-year-old Caylee Anthony, not guilty of first degree murder, aggravated manslaughter, and aggravated child abuse of her daughter. The outcome left many reeling with confusion. On Tuesday afternoon, Twitter users tweeted 34,000 updates with the term ‘Casey Anthony’, and according to MSNBC.com, almost 325,283 of updates of that day were trial-related—and had negative opinions of the verdict. Throughout the 36 day trial, Facebook pages popped up showing support for Caylee Anthony, urging users to commemorate her death. Statuses educated users on the findings of the trials. The sites gave an incredible testament to how public opinion is reflected heavily through these networks, as well as how they are rapidly advancing to become sources of information and systems of interacting with news coverage. As for Casey Anthony—she remains forever guilty…on Facebook.
Congressman Weiner: What Can We Learn
In a digital age where information can be received and delivered instantly, many fail to realize that it is not as easy to retract–or suppress. So seems to be the case with former Representative Anthony Wiener who found himself at the hands of social media when he “tweeted” revealing pictures to a young female “follower” on the microblog, Twitter. With a slip of the mouse, Weiner’s pictures, intended to be private, were made public. When not careful, this is extremely easy to overlook as all Twitter posts are public by default. This is not the first time a public figure’s carelessness has been displayed on sites such as Twitter. The end results can be career-crippling. Weiner’s resignation serves as a reminder to us all that in 2011 it is becoming increasingly easier to broadcast yourself, and it is important to be aware of the image we are broadcasting. A fleeting lapse in judgement cause catastrophic consequences to one’s reputation, and ultimately career.
Armed Security is the Best Defense
by Frank Barile The shooting at Johns Hopkins Hospital again brings the concept of workplace violence into focus. By all accounts, those charged with tactically handling this situation did a great job, but this incident is one of hundreds which occur in organizations around the world each year. In this post 911 world, private and public sector organizations that house or convene large numbers of people must rethink their security strategies. Security personnel must be better trained and equipped to handle violent crises that are associated with both active shooter and bomber situations (those who detonate explosives on their persons). There is no question the security landscape now is more ominous than it has ever been; and, an armed, immediate response is, at times, the only response that will truly stop an immediate threat of violence before real damage or loss of life occurs. Without an immediate armed response, unarmed security personal run the risk of becoming a liability. In my opinion, security entities must routinely recruit educated individuals who are both physically and mentally fit to be armed. Without an immediate armed response, unarmed security personal run the risk of becoming a liability which further adds to the complications of an emergent situation. Generally, a workplace violence incident takes less than a minute to unfold which is not nearly enough time for a first responding police department to engage and stop the threat. Therefore, the only way to truly prevent loss of life during an active shooter situation is for on-site security personnel to take action. And, in order for the security personnel to be effective, they must be trained & armed or they too run the risk of becoming victimized. Recruitment, policy making and training are critical. Security departments must implement new strategies for the 21st century – recruitment, policy making and training are critical. I would encourage every organization to evaluate their policies as no one expects the worst to happen, but it can at any moment. Leaders must ask themselves if their workplace is really protected; if not, take action now before it is too late. The cost associated with these expenses is small compared to the potential cost of liability, or worse, loss of life. Contact the Fallston Group at 443.690.0765 to learn more.
