ISUP 2013 CBSCrisis communication and Social Media – A simulation Game Learning Experience

Mashable’s take on the BP Oil Spill

Table of Contents

•Mashable’s Point of view

•Media Training Session

•Reflection

BP oil spill crisis situation analysis

An explosion in an offshore drilling rig, 11 killed and 17 people injured. Oil kept spilling out for months after - Red Crisis 1 - Out of their control.

Our priority is to cover the story as it develops in order to attract readers to our site - Our stake.

As a social media news site our main purpose is to cover the crisis in an objective manner in order to attract as well as maintain readers.

What are the key “stakes”/ issues/ challenges/ priorities that you face as a BP oil spill stakeholder

The main issues for BP's crisis from our point of view:

• Their handling of the social media aftermath: incoherent answers and generally untimely response

• BP failed to control the crisis as it developed on social media. For instance, a spoof account managed to get 142,470 followers, while the BP account only has 15,695 (at the time of writing)

Could it have been prevented?

From our point of view, the social media crisis could not have been prevented completely as the crisis snowballed at a very early stage.

However, they could have minimized the "damage" by reacting sooner and more effectively. fx: BP should have taken greater responsibility, and not tried to understate the scope of the oil spill

BP's reputation and has it affected Mashable?

It is hard to determine whether or not BP's reputation has been affected in the long run. In terms of their facebook page, there is a majority of supporters and positive reactions towards their postings.

As a social media news site, with the objectiveness we try to uphold, we see no signs of change in how it has affected us as a BP stakeholder.

Part 2 - Media training / Conference

Our Q&A that we had prepared were:

• How do we secure an objective approach? o We secured our objectiveness by analyzing social media and

communicating the data that we found.

• Why haven't we covered the situation from a more positive angle?o Because it was important for us to stay objective. The

situation is of a serious matter and we chose to represent the critical stance taken by the public in the beginning, hence we covered the crisis as it actually evolved

• Have we been too one-sided in our coverage, and only focused on the social media part?

o Our site is always focused around social media, which is our specialization. Other media chanels chose a wider coverage, so we did not need to do this.

Part 3 - Social media training

• With reference to our media experiential training in class, we see BP's media approach as very constructed.

• Negative comments were referred to a external site, and facebook users can only comment on BP's posts, not make their own.

• Overall, the image presented on Facebook and Twitter is very positive tending towards simulation

Part 3 - Social media training

BP has felt the need to expressthat they do not delete many comments.

Again an example of how BP construct their image on social media

BP's strategic priorities

BP's facebook users cannot start their own posts. This, we consider a strategic move of BP to try to control their image and the page's positive appearance.

We wrote a comment to one of their posts, to see their reaction, if any, and if it would get deleted because of our critical approach or get an auto reply. We're still waiting for an answer, on facebook as well as to our tweet...

Part 4 - Learning outcomes and critical questions

• We have learned that it is crucial to have a crisis plan at hand. Always to be proactive (as opposed to reactive) and prepare for the worst crisis that could possibly emerge.

• Every organization has a lot of stakeholders to take into consideration.

• Be truthful and take responsibility.

• It is important to stick to your crisis preparedness plan and avoid any reactions out of panic

• Re-evaluate the level of the crisis and treat it accordingly.

BP - We're sorry...

Has more views!!

Part 4 - what kind of crisis is it?

It is a mature type of crisis. The oil spill itself is an environmental disaster affecting both flora and fauna as well as human beings.

Although the crisis is primarily environmental it has also affected the company's image negatively due to their vague handling of the crisis in the first place.

The oil spill has brought up a crisis for the fishing industry in the area as well, and there is possibilities for the tourist industry will suffer from it as well.

References

Anthonissen, P. (ed.) 2008 Crisis Communication: Practical PR Strategies for Reputation Management and Company Survival, Kogan Page. (200 pages)

Umer, R., Sellnow, T., and Seeger, M. 2010. Effective Crisis

Communication: Moving from Crisis to Opportunity. Sage Publications (260 pages).

White, C. 2011, Social Media, Crisis Communication and Emergency

Management: Leveraging Web 2.0 Technologies. CRC Press (330 pages) - Exercises included.

Smith, D. and Elliott, D. 2006. Crisis Management. Systems and

Structures for Prevention and Recovery. Routledge.

Authors

Sara Beukel (@Sarbeu)Mie Thomsen (@Anne Sophie Balling Bertram (@asbbertram) Mads Emil Dalsgaard (@Mads3mil)

Instructor: Betty Tsakarestou, Assistant Professor, Department

of Communication, Media and Culture at Panteion University, Greece and twitter account (@tsakarestou)

Academic Director: Patricia Plackett, Department of Operations Management at CBS