THE MANAGEMENT OF COMMUNICATION CRISES IN THE ONLINE SPACE

1. THE MANAGEMENT OF COMMUNICATION CRISES IN THE ONLINE SPACE Diana-Maria Cismaru, NSPSPA Bucharest

2. CHALLENGES IN THE ONLINE SPACE • The risk sources for organizations diversified; • The stakeholders diversified (ex. Romanians outside the border); • Publics composed by problems, not by location; • Reputation management strategies replaces the actions of building an image;

3. REPUTATION MANAGEMENT: OUTLINES • Reputation is the most visible part of the image, the most visible indicators; • Reputation management strategies have to be preceded by perception and notoriety strategies; • The process of reputation building is fast in the late decade: reputation bears the essential information but is also fragile; • The reputation is vulnerable and exposed to risks and challenges.

4. LEVELS OF CRISIS “An interruption which affects physically the functioning of an entire organization and threatens the principles, the identity and the reason to exist” (Pauchant, 1992) Levels: - organisational crisis - communication crisis - media crisis - image crisis There are communication crises started in the online space (scenario needed)

5. FEATURES OF CRISES IN THE ONLINE SPACE • The origin factors are multiplied in comparison with the real environment; • The speed of transmission of negative messages is much higher; (c) Roles of media: mainstream tries to induce crisis, online media spreads it; (d) The informal and hidden „focuses”, which feed the crisis with „news”; (e) The traces of a crisis are much more consistent that in the real space.

6. MONITORING THE ONLINE SPACE Criteria for crisis identification: (a) well known public characters or media channels as sources; the intensity of debates; (b) the speed of spreading (high frequency of retransmission); ( c) the evidences about facts: the impact of a collective level; (d) the taking-over by important bloggers or new media actors, high frequency of comments on important sites and in social networks; (e) the tendency of launching of rumours or false scenarios.

7. PLANNING THE ONLINE CRISIS Advantages: • the information center must be replaced with the official channels (the site/blog, the company pages in social networks); • the contacts are done sometimes quickly and easily than in the real space • online answers and reactions may be planned carefully Disadvantage: a plan cannot figure in advance the amplitude of a crisis and the unexpected turns.

8. TEAM OF CRISIS MANAGEMENT

9. THE STARTING PHASE • The consultation of the crisis plan (elaborated before starting of the crisis) • The adaptation of measures and reactions approved by CEO • The selection of the appropriate communication strategies (Benoit, 1995) • The finishing of appropriate messages

10. THE ACCUTE CRISIS: ACTIONS • An online page on the crisis theme, attached to the organization’s site; • A page on the crisis’ subject on social networks (Facebook especially) which allows the rapid dissemination of the own version (c)The dissemination of answer messages, of statements and denials on other sites.

11. THE CHRONIC PHASE

12. THE FINAL PHASE The evaluation in online must refer to • the speediness of reaction (which should be faster that in the real space) • the opportunity of messages and • the channels used.

13. CONCLUSIONS a. The management of communication crisis in the online space needs special competences and abilities, as separate components in the plan. b. In the composition of the team of crisis management the roles for real and online space should be separated. c. The phases of development of the crisis are compressed and ask for fast reactions; d. The virtual space offers the possibility of a better monitoring of evolution and effects of crisis.