This book explores how social media and its advances enables citizens to empower themselves during a crisis. The book addresses the key issues related to crises management and social media as the new platform to assist citizens and first responders dealing with multiple forms of crisis, from major terrorist attacks, larger scale public disorder, large-scale movement of people across borders, and natural disasters. The book is based on the results and knowledge gained during the European Commission ATHENA project which has been addressing critical issues in contemporary crisis management and social media and smart mobile communications. This book is authored by a mix of global contributors from across the landscape of academia, emergency response and experts in government policy and private industry. This title explores and explains that during a modern crisis, the public self-organizes into voluntary groups, adapt quickly to changing circumstances, emerge as leaders and experts and perform life-saving actions; and that they are increasingly reliant upon the use of new communications media to do it.

The second edition of this vital text integrates theory, research, and application to orient readers to the latest thinking about the role of social media in crisis communication. Specific crisis arenas such as health, corporate, nonprofit, religious, political, and disaster are examined in depth, along with social media platforms and newer technology. Social Media and Crisis Communication, Second Edition provides a fresh look at the role of visual communication in social media and a more global review of social media and crisis communication literature. With an enhanced focus on the ethics section, a short communication overview piece, and case studies for each area of application, it is practical for use in a variety of learning settings. A must-read for scholars, advanced students, and practitioners who wish to stay on the leading edge of research, this book will appeal to those in public relations, strategic communications, corporate communications, government and NGO communications, and emergency and disaster response.

The ebook edition of this title is Open Access and is freely available to read online. Presenting research on social media use in crisis and risk cases: a terrorist attack, a natural disaster and an infectious disease of international concern, this book investigates how social media plays a crucial role in mitigating or preventing crises.

Although recent global disasters have clearly demonstrated the power of social media to communicate critical information in real-time, its true potential has yet to be unleashed. Social Media, Crisis Communication, and Emergency Management: Leveraging Web 2.0 Technologies teaches emergency management professionals how to use social media to improve emergency planning, preparedness, and response capabilities. It provides a set of guidelines and safe practices for using social media effectively across a range of emergency management applications. Explaining how emergency management agencies can take advantage of the extended reach these technologies offer, the book supplies cutting-edge methods for leveraging these technologies to manage information more efficiently, reduce information overload, inform the public, and ultimately save lives. Filled with real-world examples and case studies, it is an ideal self-study resource. Its easy-to-navigate structure and numerous exercises also make it suitable for courses at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. From crowdsourcing and digital volunteers to mapping and collective intelligence, Social Media, Crisis Communication, and Emergency Management: Leveraging Web 2.0 Technologies facilitates a clear understanding of the essential principles of social media. Each chapter includes an example of a local-level practitioner, organization, or agency using social media that demonstrates the transformative power of social media in the real world. The book also includes numerous exercises that supply readers with models for building their own social media sites and groups—making it a must-read for anyone who wants to learn more about the communication and information structures supported by social media. Visit the author’s homepage: http://sites.google.com/site/conniemwhite/Home

Marc-André Kaufhold explores user expectations and design implications for the utilization of new media in crisis management and response. He develops a novel framework for information refinement, which integrates the event, organisational, societal, and technological perspectives of crises. Therefore, he reviews the state of the art on crisis informatics and empirically examines the use, potentials and barriers of both social media and mobile apps. Based on these insights, he designs and evaluates ICT concepts and artifacts with the aim to overcome the issues of information overload and quality in large-scale crises, concluding with practical and theoretical implications for technology adaptation and design.

Social media and social media tools have improved rapidly and started to influence society especially in recent years. This influence has forced businesses to revolutionize their communication with the external environment. The fact that Web 2.0 has an influence on consumer behavior, and that it makes the consumers stronger; requires faster, more flexible and more sensitive communication processes in businesses. Especially during a time of crisis, a business' communication with the external environment is quite critical. For this reason, the way how the crisis communication is managed through social media is vital for businesses. In this article, the perceptions of how to manage businesses during a time of crisis so that they make minimum loss, is shared.

This fascinating new book explores the benefits and dynamics of social media storms and identifies the possible opportunities that they present for further engagement with customers. It provides actionable managerial advice on planning for, measuring, and innovatively navigating social media storms. Based on a sound theoretical background and illustrated by vivid real-life examples and case studies throughout every chapter, this book combines thorough explanations of the elements of business decision-making, market interaction, consumer psychology, branding, and business communication. In comparison to the existing literature, the book departs from the classical, but insufficient crisis communication management approaches to suggest novel frameworks and tools for empowering businesses, consumers, and broader societies in the digital age. Social Media Storms: Empowering Leadership Beyond Crisis Management provides advanced undergraduate and postgraduate digital marketing, marketing communications, strategy, and crisis management students with a comprehensive understanding of the social media storm phenomenon and helps marketing and communications professionals to leverage the opportunities that social media storms are bringing.

An authoritative compendium of new research findings and case studies in the application of communication theory during catastrophic events Communicating Science in Times of Crisis: Communication and Catastrophic Events addresses the practical application and research implications of communication theory in the context of man-made and natural catastrophes. Bringing together contributions by leading experts in crisis management and strategic communication, this timely collection of resources links scientific issues with public policy while discussing the challenges and opportunities for using communication to manage extreme events in the evolving media landscape of the 21st century. In this second volume of the Wiley-Blackwell Communicating Science in Times of Crises series, 15 substantial chapters explore a varied range of catastrophic conditions, such as mass violence incidents, disease outbreaks, catastrophic mudslides, cascading and simultaneous disasters, extreme weather events, diffusion of misinformation during crises, students traveling internationally during a global health crisis, and more. Each chapter focuses on a particular issue or concern, revealing the difficult choices that confront academics and practitioners across communication disciplines and presenting original frameworks and models alongside ongoing research programs. Discusses approaches for balancing scientific findings with social and cultural issues Highlights the ability of legacy and digital media to facilitate science in mitigating the effects of adverse events Examines the ethical repercussions of communication during unfolding and unpredictable events Addresses the use of social media communication during a crisis and navigating an increasingly media-savvy society with multiple levels of science literacy Covers key theoretical and practical aspects of the associated fields of risk management and crisis management Available as a standalone book or as part of a two-volume set, Communicating Science in Times of Crisis: Communication and Catastrophic Events is essential reading for scholars, researchers, practitioners, and advanced students in the fields of crisis communication, risk and emergency management, disaster studies, policy management, social media communication, and healthcare communication.

Finn Frandsen and Winni Johansen have won the 2019 Danish communication prize (KOM-pris) for their world-class research in organisational crises, crisis management and crisis communication. This prize is awarded by The Danish Union of Journalists (Dansk Journalistforbund) and Kforum. http://mgmt.au.dk/nyheder/nyheder/news-item/artikel/finn-frandsen-and-winni-johansen-win-the-kom-pris-2019/ The aim of this handbook is to provide an up-to-date introduction to the discipline of crisis communication. Based on the most recent international research and through a series of levels (from the textual to the inter-societal level), this handbook introduces the reader to the most important concepts, models, theories and debates within the field of crisis communication. Crisis communication is a young and very vibrant field of research and practice. It is therefore crucial that researchers, students and practitioners have access to presentations and discussions of the most recent research. Like the other handbooks in the HOCS series, this handbook contains a general introduction, a chapter on the history of crisis communication research, a series of thematic chapters on crisis communication research at various levels, a chapter perspectives, a glossary of key terms, and lists of further reading for each chapter (with references to publications in English, German, and French). Overview Section I – Introducing the field General introduction A brief history of crisis management and crisis communication: From organizational practice to academic discipline Reframing the field: Public crisis management, political crisis management, and corporate crisis management Section II – Between text and context Image repair theory Situational crisis communication theory: Influences, provenance, evolution, and prospects Contingency theory: Evolution from a public relations theory to a theory of strategic conflict management Discourse of renewal: Understanding the theory’s implications for the field of crisis communication Making sense of crisis sensemaking theory: Weick’s contributions to the study of crisis communication Arenas and voices in organizational crisis communication: How far have we come? Visual crisis communication Section III – Organizational level To minimize or mobilize? The trade-offs associated with the crisis communication process Internal crisis communication: On current and future research Whistleblowing in organizations Employee reactions to negative media coverage Crisis communication and organizational resilience Section IV – Interorganizational level Fixing the broken link: Communication strategies for supply chain crises Reputational interdependence and spillover: Exploring the contextual challenges of spillover crisis response Crisis management consulting: An emerging field of study Section V – Societal level Crisis and emergency risk communication: Past, present, and future Crisis communication in public organizations Communicating and managing crisis in the world of politics Crisis communication and the political scandal Crisis communication and social media: Short history of the evolution of social media in crisis communication Mass media and their symbiotic relationship with crisis Section VI – Intersocietal level Should CEOs of multinationals be spokespersons during an overseas product harm crisis? Intercultural and multicultural approaches to crisis communication Section VII – Critical approaches Ethics in crisis communication Section VIII – The future The future of organizational crises, crisis management and crisis communication For a detailed table of contents, please see here.