Crisis communicationsin a networked world

CASE District VI Conference || Jan. 14, 2007 || Denver

Andrew Careaga || Director of CommunicationsMissouri University of Science and Technology

acareaga@mst.edu || www.mst.edu

Reputation management online

• how social media can affect your institution’s reputation

• better monitor online discussions about your institution

• refine your crisis communications plan to address online issues

• improve management of your institution’s online reputation

• be prepared to enter the online “conversation” about your institution

Lessons from Virginia Tech

Avg. Monday

April 16, 2007

% change

129,544

1,019,966

687%

Spike in web traffic

Page viewsAvg. Monday

April 16, 2007

% change

193,258

2,294,687

1087%Source: Michael Dame, director of web services, Virginia Tech, “From the Inside Out: Lessons Learned in Crisis Web Communications After the Virginia Tech Tragedy,” HigherEdExperts.com webinar, July 10, 2007

‘Markets are conversations.’

Christopher Locke, Rick Levine,Doc Searls, David Weinberger The Cluetrain Manifesto (www.cluetrain.com)

Disintermediation

Eliminatingthe middleman

‘Don’t tase me, bro!’

2,238,930 views

27,599 comments

‘Can’t tase this’

1,008,097 views

2,596 comments

So what?

Source: Business Week, "Web Strategies That Cater To Customers," June 11, 2007; chart source: www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_24/b4038405.htm

Source: David Sifry, "State of the Blogosphere/State of the Live Web," April 2007 (www.sifry.com/stateoftheliveweb/)

The rise of citizen journalism

OhMyNews.comEvery Citizen Is A Reporter

47,000 registered citizen reporters

more than 2,500 stories a day

600,000 daily readers

Citizen journalism: StumbleUpon

Founded 2001

2006 membership:1 million

2007 membership:4 million

May 2007: Purchased by eBay for $75 million

Blogs as news sources

• October 2006– 12 blogs in top 100 most linked-to news

and information sites

• December 2006– 22 blogs in top 100 most linked-to news

and information sites

Source: David Sifry, "State of the Blogosphere/State of the Live Web," April 2007 (www.sifry.com/stateoftheliveweb/)

Source: David Sifry, "State of the Blogosphere/State of the Live Web," April 2007 (www.sifry.com/stateoftheliveweb/)

Source: David Sifry, "State of the Blogosphere/State of the Live Web," April 2007 (www.sifry.com/stateoftheliveweb/)

Traditional media:losing ground – and credibility

72% of adults dissatisfied with the quality of American journalism today

Satisfied

Dissatisfied

55% said bloggers are important to the future of American journalism

74% said citizen journalism will play a vital role

Source: We Media/Zogby Interactive survey, reported in Advertising Age, “Who blogs? Odds are marketers have no idea,” June 4, 2007 (www.adage.com/digital/article?article_id=116998)

Social media:gaining ground – and credibility78% of online consumers spend more than 10 minutes reading consumer-generated reviews before buying

90% of Internet users “moderately” or “highly” trust information from online acquaintances

4% “highly” trust information from vendors or advertisers

Source: PowerReviews and Faves.com research, reported by Elisabeth A. Sullivan in “Be Sociable,” Marketing News, Jan. 15, 2008

Twitter - 500,000 ‘microbloggers’

Online video: we like to watch

Online video stats Viewers

Videos

watched

Jan. 2007 123 million 2.5 billion

Sept. 2007 136 million 7.2 billion

Source: comScore Media Metrix

Social networks:Catalysts for activism?

Social networks:Catalysts for activism?

Social networks:Catalysts for activism?

An example close to home

An example close to home

‘Sudden jihad syndrome’

‘We have an international student; identity and nationality weren’t released; claimed to have a bomb; threatened terrorist type activities. How remarkable, ladies and gentlemen, no one knows his name. No one knows his homeland. Now, we have to ask ourselves, Is there a common link with the many other little single incidents of sudden jihad syndrome?’

‘Sudden jihad syndrome’

‘Because that's what this is, sudden jihad syndrome. From cabdrivers to the flying imams to any number of activities. ... International student, identity and nationality not released. Hmm.’

Portion of transcript from Rush Limbaugh Show

Other online reactions

Other online reactions

How to prepare? 4 steps

• SWOT analysis

• Fill in the gaps

• Get tech-savvy

• Get tech-ready

Step 1: start with a SWOT

• Strengths might include…accessible, easily updated website

• Weaknesses might include…no ability to send mass text messages, no experience creating podcasts, no concept of blogging

• Opportunities…enlist cyber-savvy student assistants for blogging, podcasting

• Threats…local disgruntled alumnus is also an influential blogger (Do you know who the bloggers are in your community?)

Web-ready SWOT analysis: Missouri S&T

Strengths WeaknessesSolid crisis comm experience

Experienced bloggers

One savvy podcaster

Monitoring social media

Good IT relations

Good media relations

CMS issues

Mass notif system new, untested

Crisis plan doesn’t take social media into account

Not familiar w/ local bloggers

Not Facebook-savvy

Opportunities ThreatsBlogging platform for emergencies

IT bloggers can assist

Incorp social media into plan

Get to know local soc media

Explore Facebook culture

Local paper’s open forum online

Local colunnist/blogger

Students’ user-generated video on YouTube

Step 2: fill in the gaps

• New skill sets for reputation management in the online world:– Comfort with technology– Conversational, honest communication– Team-building and collaboration

• Have the right people on your crisis communications team (IT, alumni relations, student representatives)

• Collaborate with your IT staff• Learn from students

Step 3: get tech-savvy

• Blog discussions: Technorati, BlogPulse, Alexa

• Microblogging: Twitter• Video: YouTube, Blinkx• Photos/images: Flickr• Social bookmarks: Digg, del.icio.us• Social networks: Facebook, MySpace,

LinkedIn• Wikipedia

Have you met yourWikipedia editor?

Here’s ours:

Step 4: get tech-ready

• Create a plan to monitor your online reputation

• Prepare to respond – or not

• Use web 2.0 tools to reach key audiences

Monitoring online reputation

• Monitor keywords– Google News Alerts– Google Blog Alerts– Technorati– BlogPulse– del.icio.us– Digg– Flickr– YouTube– Google Video

• Join the Wikipedia editorial team

What’s your del.icio.us reputation

Don’t overlook these sitesCampusDirt.com

Don’t overlook these sitesStudentsReview.com

Responding to online media

• Do nothing

• Respond on initiating vehicle

• Respond on your site or at large

• Respond traditionally

Thanks to: Shel Holtz, “Blogs Gone Wild,” Ragan Communications Social Media Conference, Sept. 27, 2007

Dalhousie University’s response

Measuring online reputation

• Outcomes: affecting behavior, relationships– traffic– relationships

• Outtakes: social capital, social networking measures– what ‘networks’ are connected?– comments and commentary– ability to disseminate info quickly/accurately/widely/narrowly

• Output: How many people are paying attention?– rankings/authority (Technorati)– conversation index (comments/post)

• Analysis: Look at trends over time

Getting your story out

• Email– most traditional

• Your website– blog format is useful– RSS for updates, republishing

• Correct misinformation– Wikipedia– video to YouTube– images to Flickr

• Create and post relevant podcasts

Blogging about controversial issues

Get the right tools and people

• Can you quickly post information on the website and make it readily accessible?

• Do you have RSS feeds, email lists, etc.?

• Who is on your crisis communications team?– Include key IT staff, alumni relations staff,

athletics staff, radio station staff

• Get buy-in from above

In summary

• Determine your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats

• Fill the gaps• Get tech-savvy• Get tech-ready

– Create a plan for monitoring online activity– Be prepared to respond quickly to

misinformation