Abstract
This paper analyzes trends related to the role of social media in crisis communication. The author posed a question about the attitudes of online media actors (communication, public relations and marketing experts) towards using social media as a strategic communication tool in times of crisis; Emphasis on two different crises: the 2016 Turkish political crisis and the global health pandemic (COVID-19) in 2020. Communications actors' perceptions and behaviors of social media in times of crisis were tracked through a mixed method (a content analysis of 40 online publications about the military coup attempt in Turkey, and 20 semi structured in-depth interviews about the usage of social media during the quarantine period). The results showed that social media is a lifeboat that is provided to organizations in times of crisis, as communication with customers becomes a vital factor in managing critical situations. Meanwhile, some participants expressed reservations about confidence in the use of social media in times of crisis, stressing that these networks are a double-edged sword. As the keyword for crisis management, a strategic communication plan should take place via social media to discuss customer inquiries with clients, answer their questions, and try to reduce their anxiety, according to the interviewee.
Highlights
Smart digital communication applications have become a constant prerequisite for individuals and organizations
Part 1: Social media uses during the political crisis
Some participants emphasized that social media is able to be an essential communication tool for effective crisis management but can make a crisis worse if not used strategically; a strategic approach to crisis management through social media is perceived worth to enable Communicators, PR and Marketing agents to harness the potential of networks
Summary
Smart digital communication applications have become a constant prerequisite for individuals and organizations. In July 2016, Face-Time was considered one of the factors that thwarted the military coup in Turkey, which gave a tremendous marketing breath to the iPhone company, which benefited commercially from the Turkish president's use of one of its applications during the period of the crisis that his country went through, in order to address his people at a critical time. This allows the author to question the true size of the role that social networks play in managing political crises. The main question is covered in a different approach; the author chose another crisis; it has chosen to tackle a severe and current global pandemic: Coronavirus, called Covid-19, to investigate the way social media is viewed and used by communication, PR and marketing experts during the quarantine period via in depth, semi structured interviews
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