Internet Crisis Communications: What Should We Do?

Internet crises share many of the fundamental elements of crisis communication management. First, every organization needs a crisis plan that includes many potential scenarios and should also include the worst case scenario – total product failure. This crisis plan should be taken seriously and practiced in a simulation exercise. Everyone involved should practice their roles.

In the book Public Relations Strategies and Tactics, the authors offer sound basic advice for communicating during a crisis:

• Put the public first
• Take responsibility
• Be honest
• Never say “no comment”
• Designate a single spokesperson
• Set up a central information center
• Provide a constant flow of information
• Be familiar with the media needs and deadlines
• Monitor news coverage and telephone inquiries
• Communicate with key publics

            The rise of the Internet as an important mass medium, I believe, is creating new challenges for public relations managers. Consider these trends I outlined in a recent article for The School Administrator magazine, “Got Web?”

Decline of Traditional News Media: It’s no secret: fewer people are reading a newspaper or watching a network news show. Instead, more people are relying on the Internet for news. This will have potentially serious consequences, especially in crisis communication situations when organizations traditionally rely on the local news media to explain what’s happening.

The Rise of Participatory Journalism: Journalists are no longer the only ones reporting the news. One of the biggest debates in journalism today is defining who is a journalist. With the rise of Internet technology and, in particular, blogs, everyone’s a reporter! More and more people are gathering and disseminating news and opinions via a Web site than ever before. While most of these sites lack the credibility of mainstream media, their influence is growing and organizational news will be of great interest to  stakeholders.

Demand for Information Customization: Not only do people want information at their fingertips 24/7 today, but they want that information customized to their needs. While people are loading their Apple i-Pods with music, others are selecting podcasts of all sorts of editorial content for future listening. They are also seeking information that was prepared for their needs, in the style that they enjoy, and when they want to have it.

Activism: The Internet has the ability to grow issues rapidly from anyone with access to the Internet. Organized interest groups or even individuals on a mission and time on his or her hands will increasingly undermine the credibility and trust in organizational Web sites and other Internet-based strategies.

In an article titled “Crisis Management and the Internet,” the author Boyd Neil suggested the following ways to use the Internet during a crisis:

1.      Have an Internet plan in your crisis communication manual

2.      Plan to use your intranet as a virtual crisis command center so that crisis team members, seniors executives and other employees can be updated on your emergency response program and plans

3.      Regularly monitor appropriate news and chat groups, advocacy group Web sites and on-line news services

4.      Include an IT expert or Web specialist on your crisis team

5.      Become familiar with the way issues and rumors develop, migrate to and escalate on the Web

6.      Practice downloading and transferring documents, pictures, video and audio on to your Web site

7.      Consider rapid response Web pages that can be activated when needed, complete with templates (holding statements, company backgrounders, fact sheets, media contact forms, etc.)

8.      Plan to use your Web site to update the public and the media during a crisis by posting statements, FAQs, speeches and photographs

9.      Maintain an E-mail database of key media and stakeholders so that information can be “blasted” to them quickly.

While it's true that public relations managers can't respond to every blog or discussion thread out there, it is possible to prioritize issues based on various factors. In the Kryptonite case, more active monitoring of the Internet via a Web monitoring service (see #3 above) may have identified the issue more quickly and allowed the organization to give it a high priority because there was credible evidence to confirm the problem was real, that a number of people were posting to the thread or viewing it, and the "issue" had the real potential to become a major crisis (see Timothy Coombs’ article “Assessing Online Issue Threats: Issue Contagions and their Effects on Issue Prioritization”). Because issues can quickly develop into a crisis, a speedy response was necessary.

In Kryptonite’s case, it chose not to respond directly to the discussion thread or the subsequent blogs. I believe the public relations manager should have responded quickly to the discussion thread (see #5 above) even if it was in a limited manner, with news releases or brief statements (while mentioning that Kryptonite could not respond individually to posters' questions at that time). As mentioned before, there is a growing expectation of information customization and transparency. Customers want to know that their needs are heard and that their concerns matter to the organization. My textual analysis of the discussion thread indicated that most posters were loyal customers who wanted reassurance something was happening. Most expressed understanding of the situation and seemed willing to give Kryptonite a chance to respond and develop its plan. Many wondered on the thread why Kryptonite didn’t communicate directly to their concerns. The uncertainty of the situation was frustrating and could have been reduced with even limited communication. Kryptonite did, however, use its Web site and it did talk to the traditional news media when possible.

For small organizations, such as Kryptonite, which can be easily overwhelmed by a crisis, it would be worthwhile to have a working relationship with a crisis communication agency on call should a crisis strike. Good effective planning is always a must with clear key messages…and getting out and communicating with stakeholders in the crazy, unpredictable Internet world.

I think Neville Hobson and Shel Holtz’s presentation at the IAOC national conference this year said it best: “Institutions must cede control of the message in order to participate in the conversation…” because there’s a new social structure developing in which “technology puts power in communities, not institutions.”