The Spectrum of Practices for Social Media Listening for Crisis Management

The Spectrum of Practices for Social Media Listening for Crisis Management


Abstract as pdf

Corresponding Author:

Lucia Herrera
University of Agder Norway
lucia.c.herrera@uia.no

Author(s):

Organizations involved in crisis management operations and communications are increasingly adopting processes involving social media as an information source. However, different crisis management priorities yield different configurations of practices in organizations. When seen from overhead, the different configurations, workflows, and set-ups can be categorized in different levels of maturity of practices that range from using social media as an avenue to reach audiences on their social media channels to sophisticated team configurations dedicated to constantly generating intelligence and analysis about the vulnerable population at risk. The study presents a preliminary classification of the maturity of practice by analyzing the adoption of social media as a source of information. In addition, we relate experiences by comparing features such as but not limited to resources (internal vs. external), level of connectivity, objectives, or location of practice within the organization (i.e., communications vs. operations center) or external to the organization (i.e., city, country, region). This analysis contributes to the further institutionalization and knowledge base on the way that social media is used in practice for crisis management strategies.

References:

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Organizational learning and change during the "Blue Skies"