Handling Crises on Social Networks
How to respond to an online reputation crisis
A social media crisis can be triggered by a dissatisfied customer, a hacked corporate account or a rumor that goes viral before the company even finds out, and how you respond in the first few hours usually determines whether the impact is contained or multiplied. Handling the crisis well means having a protocol in advance, with defined roles for who approves messages, a response tone already thought out and active monitoring channels to detect the problem as soon as it arises, instead of improvising under pressure. For example, responding transparently and quickly when an account has been compromised, acknowledging what happened and explaining what's being done, generates more trust than deleting comments or staying silent while the negative conversation keeps growing out of control.