Crises Management in a Social media environment from the perspective of a public relations manager

Abstract

Several organizations have shown unpreparedness to the continuous evolution of the social media, often considering it a threat when in fact it may be an opportunity if properly managed. In such an environment crisis may arise that could be easily avoided. In this study we identify the mechanisms of crisis management in a social media environment, from the perspective of public relations managers. Specifically we address how may managers dealt with a crisis in a social media environment using three case studies of communication agencies working with social media, while managing their customers ’ presence in social networks. Results show that the crisis plan is not consensual and that it has mandatory and also optional steps according to the situation. We contribute to better understand the set of good practices that will enable organizations to prevent, manage and remediate crisis in a social media environment.