Directivos ante situaciones de crisis. El uso de LinkedIn por parte de la CEO de Metro de Madrid durante la borrasca Filomena / Senior managers in crisis situations. The use of LinkedIn by the CEO of Metro de Madrid during the storm Filomena

Abstract

In January 2021, the storm Filomena paralysed Spain. One of the most affected cities was Madrid, which suffered a general collapse for several days. Metro de Madrid (underground railway company and one of the most popular public services in the city) continued to provide service to its users. Silvia Roldan (CEO of Metro de Madrid) wrote a daily post on LinkedIn to explain to users what problems they were facing, how they were being solved and how the service was ensured. Metro de Madrid is an underground railway company that was inaugurated in 1919. It extends over 294 kilometres distributed in 302 stations. It employs 7,000 persons. Other data of Metro de Madrid are: 2,400 cars, 8,758 security cameras, 1,263 vending machines, 2,424 tele-indicators, 1,703 escalators, 541 lifts and 5,386 intercoms. "LinkedIn is a social network that has a great attraction, you are addressing a professional audience, which judges you on the basis of the work you do", says the CEO of Metro de Madrid in an interview conducted to illustrate this research. This research is based on two hypotheses: 1) In a crisis context, direct communication between a company's executive and stakeholders reduces uncertainty and helps to restore institutional equilibrium; and 2) It is possible to find a paradigmatic model in this type of communication with specific stakeholders. This research carried out a quantitative and qualitative analysis using a content analysis of Roldan’s posts on LinkedIn during this crisis and an interview with the CEO of Metro de Madrid. This case gives us some lessons in communication as main results. LinkedIn is an optimal platform for crisis communication, especially if we want to transmit moderately long messages, with nuances, aimed at a professional audience willing to listen and dialogue. Roldan’s colloquial and friendly tone used in her posts are justified in this case (Filomena crisis). She is CEO of the company, direct witness of the facts and responsible for the solutions that are implemented. She uses the first-person narrative, which produces closeness and is a good remedy against uncertainty. It complements institutional messages, transmitted through institutional media and channels, which use a more aseptic and formal tone. The use of photographs in the published posts establishes an emotional links between the author of the post and readers. Readers feel like a direct witness of the facts, especially when the photograph is a subjective close-up. LinkedIn, despite not being Metro de Madrid's main communication channel, is a useful and valuable platform for communicating in emergency situations, even in a more personal and less institutional way than other platforms. Perhaps its greatest virtue is to target a professional and specialised audience, which can be proactive in the resolution of an emergency. The use of LinkedIn in emergency situations is still under-researched compared to other social platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp or Instagram. This article is part of the competitive research project: “Crisis and emergency communication in Social Media. Study of its use in Spain and design of information protocols for institutions and media (COMCRISIS - PID2019-109064GB-I00)” granted and funded by the Ministry of Science and Innovation of the Spanish Government.