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15 Social Media Crisis Examples to Learn From in 2025
What Is a Social Media Crisis?
1. balenciaga’s teddy bear mishap, 2. british museum’s misguided meme, 3. united airline’s passenger removal incident, 4. h&m's "coolest monkey" catastrophe, 5. dove’s facebook ad fiasco, 6. kfc’s chicken shortage social media crisis, 7. delta’s uniform policy controversy, 8. gillette's "the best men can be" campaign, 9. kellogg's ceo's "cereal for dinner" controversy, 10. peloton’s controversial holiday ad, 11. lululemon's sheer yoga pants crisis, 12. snapchat's domestic violence ad disaster, 13. papa john's founder's racial slur controversy, 14. tesla’s “funding secured” tweet crisis, 15. bud light's dylan mulvaney partnership backlash, key takeaways: strategies for managing social media crises, improve crisis management with social media listening.
Social media blunders can turn into PR nightmares faster than you manage to delete a post or a tweet.
One wrong image or caption, and suddenly your brand is facing a full-blown crisis.
But every disaster is a chance to learn.
In this guide, we list 15 examples of social media crises and the lessons they teach us.
It’ll help you avoid making the same mistakes and explore potential crisis migration techniques.
A social media crisis happens when negative content (mentions, comments, etc.) about your brand rapidly spreads online.
It can start with a poorly perceived post, ad, or customer complaint.
These situations can seriously damage your sales numbers, brand reputation, and customer relationships. If not addressed quickly.
Let's dive into the top social media crisis examples and see how various brands tried to fix them.
Source: The Sun
In November 2022, Balenciaga launched an ad campaign that quickly backfired.
The ads showed children holding teddy bears wearing what looked like bondage gear.
Social media users were outraged.
Many accused the brand of sexualizing children and promoting inappropriate content.
As a result, Balenciaga lost about 100,000 Instagram followers, fell out of the Lyst Index's top 10 brands, and saw a decline in sales
Balenciaga’s response:
Balenciaga's response to the social media crisis unfolded in stages.
- Initially, they denied responsibility and even filed a lawsuit against the production company.
- However, after a week of intense public backlash, the brand changed its course.
- They issued apologies from the company’s leadership, took responsibility for the "grievous errors," and announced new content validation procedures to prevent future missteps.
Lessons learned:
Here’s what we learned from Balenciaga's teddy bear disaster:
- They created even more backlash by first denying everything. Make sure to own your mistakes.
- It took them a whole week to say sorry. That's way too long for social media.
- In the end, the company’s leadership—CEO and creative director—spoke up. Getting your top people involved when addressing a crisis is a good idea.
- The company developed new rules to avoid similar situations in the future. This is something you should always implement when crises happen.
- Even after the apologies, the brand faced ongoing issues. Expect lasting consequences when such crises arise.
Source: Art News
In March 2024, the British Museum posted a meme that quickly sparked social media outrage.
The post suggested "girlies" visit their Roman Army exhibition to find men by "looking confused."
It was meant to riff on a TikTok trend about men pondering the Roman Empire.
Social media users, especially academics, criticized the post as sexist and unprofessional.
British Museum's response:
- The museum initially defended the post as a joke about "mansplaining" in the comments.
- They claimed they weren't suggesting women "need to look for dates or pretend to be stupid."
- After continued backlash, they deleted the posts from Instagram and TikTok.
- The museum then issued an official apology for the misstep.
Here are a few lessons we can learn from this social media crisis:
- Don't try to be "trendy" at the expense of your company's reputation.
- Consider how different audience segments might perceive your content.
- Have a clear and thorough review process for social media posts.
- When you make a mistake, apologize quickly instead of defending it.
- Remember that attempts at humor can easily backfire on official accounts.
- Be cautious when adapting trends from one platform (TikTok) to another (Instagram).
Source: WSJ
In April 2017, United Airlines faced a PR nightmare when a video went viral.
It showed a passenger being forcibly dragged off an overbooked flight. The 69-year-old man, Dr. David Dao, was visibly injured and bloodied.
Social media exploded with outrage, and the incident made global headlines.
The consequences?
United’s stock dropped by about $1.4 billion in market value. Not to mention the social media backlash and brand reputation damage.
United's response:
United's handling of this crisis was a masterclass in what not to do.
- First, they only apologized for "re-accommodating" passengers.
- An internal memo leaked, calling Dr. Dao "disruptive and belligerent."
- Finally, the CEO Oscar Munoz sent an email that seemed to blame the victim.
- And only after the backlash peaked they issued a proper apology.
Someone on X (Twitter) even created a fake Munoz profile with the backdrop saying “If we cannot beat our competitors, we beat our customers”:
- Don't wait to apologize properly. Especially when it’s a situation involving damage done to your customers.
- Never, ever blame the victim. It will only make the situation worse.
- Keep your internal communications in check. Leaks happen, and they can make things way worse.
- Remember that smartphones are everywhere. Assume everything will be filmed and shared.
- Get your leadership on the same page immediately. Mixed messages are a recipe for disaster.
In January 2018, H&M posted an ad featuring a young Black boy wearing a hoodie with "Coolest Monkey in the Jungle" printed on it.
Social media instantly erupted, accusing the brand of racism and insensitivity.
Several celebrities and influencers also called for a boycott of the brand.
The backlash was particularly intense in South Africa, where protesters trashed several H&M stores.
As a result, H&M's sales took a hit, dropping significantly in the following quarter.
H&M's response:
- They quickly pulled the ad and issued an apology.
- The company promised to review its internal processes.
- They appointed a diversity leader to address cultural sensitivity issues.
- H&M engaged with community leaders to discuss concerns and make amends.
- Cultural awareness is non-negotiable. What seems innocent can be deeply offensive.
- Get diverse perspectives before hitting 'publish'. It could save you a lot of trouble.
- React fast when crises happen. H&M's quick response probably prevented an even worse fallout.
- Expect long-term consequences. A single misstep can impact sales for months.
- Follow through on promises. H&M's diversity leader appointment showed they were serious about change.
Source: The New York State Senate
In October 2017, Dove went through a social media crisis over a Facebook ad.
The 3-second video showed a Black woman removing her shirt to reveal a white woman underneath.
Makeup artist Naomi Blake called out the ad as "tone deaf" and racist on social media.
The image spread within hours, with many accusing Dove of suggesting Black skin is dirty.
Critics also pointed out how the ad echoed historical racist soap ads.
Dove's response:
- They quickly pulled the ad from Facebook.
- The company apologized on social media, admitting they "missed the mark."
- Dove explained the ad was meant to celebrate diversity.
- They acknowledged they "got it wrong" and expressed deep regret.
- Some critics found this apology wasn’t enough, leading to further backlash.
- History matters. The ad accidentally tapped into some seriously problematic old soap ads.
- Again, always get diverse perspectives on your content. Someone might have spotted the issue before it went live.
- Good intentions aren't enough. Dove meant well, but the execution was a disaster.
- In the case of a crisis, apologize properly. Dove's first attempt didn't cut it.
- Even brands with a good track record can go through a crisis. Dove's reputation and brand mission couldn’t save them here.
In February 2018, KFC in the UK faced quite a crisis.
They ran out of chicken. Yes, a chicken restaurant without chicken.
Over 600 of their 870 UK stores had to close over issues with a new delivery partner (DHL).
And, of course, social media exploded with #ChickenCrisis and #KFCCrisis posts.
But the restaurant chain handled it well.
KFC's response:
- They quickly acknowledged the problem and kept customers updated on social media.
- They set up a website showing which stores still had chicken.
- KFC ran a full-page newspaper ad with "FCK" on an empty chicken bucket.
- The ad apologized with humor and explained what went wrong.
- They kept the communication flowing daily, reassuring their customers.
- KFC didn't publicly blame DHL for the mess.
Here’s the above-mentioned newspaper ad:
- A dash of humor can help in crisis management—if the situation allows for it.
- Be transparent. KFC's honesty about the situation helped calm the waters.
- React fast. KFC's quick response prevented the situation from getting even more fried.
- Use all the tools in your communication toolkit. KFC went multi-channel with their message.
- Stay true to your brand. KFC always uses a playful and humorous tone of voice in its communications, and its reaction felt very natural.
Image source: New York Post
In July 2024, Delta faced a social media backlash over a uniform policy.
Two flight attendants were spotted wearing small Palestinian flag pins on their uniforms.
A social media user posted photos, calling them "Hamas badges" and asking what passengers should do.
Delta's social media team responded by saying they'd be "terrified as well."
Of course, the internet exploded, accusing Delta of anti-Palestinian bias and calling for boycotts.
Delta's response:
- They deleted the initial inflammatory response and apologized.
- The employee behind the social media blunder was removed from Delta's social channels.
- Delta introduced a new policy: no pins representing any country except the US.
- They claimed this was to ensure a "safe, comfortable welcome environment for all."
- Critics saw this as an overreaction and potentially silencing workers.
- Think before you tweet, and create specific guidelines and a thorough review process for your social media team. Delta's response made the actual crisis.
- Staying neutral is tricky business. Delta's attempt at damage control didn’t make the situation better.
- Policy changes can backfire. The pin ban generated even more ambiguity than before.
- Stand by your people. Delta faced criticism for not supporting the photographed flight attendants.
- Address the root cause, not just the symptoms. Changing policy without tackling underlying issues is not enough.
In January 2019, Gillette decided to tackle toxic masculinity with their new project.
Their "The Best Men Can Be" campaign included a short film addressing bullying and harassment. The video showed negative male behaviors and urged men to "be better."
It quickly went viral, generating millions of views in days.
Social media had polarized reactions—praise from some, and outrage from others.
Critics accused Gillette of stereotyping all men as badly behaved or toxic.
Some users also created the hashtag #BoycottGillette, and it quickly started trending.
Gillette's response:
- Gillette stood firmly behind their campaign message.
- The company emphasized its goal was to spark conversation about positive masculinity.
- Gillette pledged $1 million annually for three years to non-profits helping men.
- They engaged in dialogue with both supporters and critics across platforms.
- The brand followed up with more inclusive campaigns, including one featuring a transgender man.
- Tackling social issues is always challenging. It can win praise but also alienate customers.
- Authenticity is key. Some questioned Gillette's motives, highlighting the need for consistent support of social causes.
- Be prepared for pushback. Gillette's firm stance showed the importance of standing by brand values.
- Actions speak louder than words. Gillette's follow-up campaigns and donations reinforced their sincerity.
- Know your audience. The campaign revealed potential disconnects between Gillette and its customer base.
Source: Complex
In February 2024, Kellogg's CEO Gary Pilnick suggested families eat cereal for dinner to save money during a CNBC interview.
Pilnick was promoting Kellogg's "cereal for dinner" campaign amid rising food prices.
Social media exploded, accusing Pilnick of being out of touch with economic realities.
Critics compared his comments to Marie Antoinette's infamous "let them eat cake” and the hashtag #BoycottKelloggs started trending on TikTok.
Kellogg's response:
- The company initially stayed quiet, which only fueled the fire.
- As of early April 2024, no official response had been issued.
- Kellogg's social media accounts and press releases ignored the controversy.
- This lack of response allowed the backlash to grow unchecked.
- Context is essential. Business-speak doesn't always translate well to the general public.
- Silence isn't always a good idea. Kellogg's lack of response caused the situation to spiral.
- Make sure your marketing campaigns and leadership are on the same page.
- Sometimes, the CEO isn't the best spokesperson for sensitive topics.
- Consider the long-term impact. This misstep could affect Kellogg's brand for a while.
In November 2019, Peloton released a holiday ad that quickly got a lot of negative attention.
The 30-second spot showed a woman documenting her year-long journey with a Peloton bike gifted by her husband.
Critics slammed the ad as sexist and promoting unhealthy body image standards.
Social media exploded with parodies, memes, and outrage.
As a result, Peloton's stock took a hit, dropping about 9% in the days following the controversy.
Peloton's response:
- They initially defended the ad, saying it was meant to celebrate fitness and wellness.
- The company expressed disappointment in how some people misinterpreted the commercial.
- Peloton highlighted positive feedback from customers who "got" their message.
- Despite ongoing criticism, they didn't pull the ad from circulation.
- Consider diverse perspectives when creating ads and social media content. What seems innocent to some may be offensive to others.
- Context is crucial when dealing with sensitive topics like gender and body image.
- Your initial response matters. Peloton's defense, rather than acknowledgment, prolonged the issue.
- Ensure your marketing aligns with your brand values and customer expectations.
Source: CNBC
In 2013, Lululemon recalled 17% of their women's yoga pants for being too sheer.
The issue quickly became the talk of social media and news outlets.
Founder Chip Wilson then poured fuel on the fire in a Bloomberg TV interview. He suggested some women's bodies "just don't actually work" for their pants.
As a result, Lululemon saw a stock value drop, followed by ongoing social media criticism.
Lululemon's response:
- They swiftly recalled the problematic pants from stores.
- The company apologized and promised to improve quality control.
- After Wilson's comments, Lululemon distanced itself from his statements.
- Wilson stepped down as chairman in December 2013.
- CEO Christine Day announced her departure in June 2014.
- Quality control is key. One faulty product can lead to a major PR disaster.
- Leaders' words matter. Wilson's comments showed how quickly a founder can damage a brand.
- Respond quickly and appropriately. Lululemon's product recall was fast, but handling the aftermath was messy.
- Don't blame the customer. Ever. Wilson's body comments were another masterclass in what not to do.
- Keep your messaging consistent. The gap between official statements and Wilson's comments created confusion.
In March 2018, Snapchat approved an ad for a game asking users to choose between "Slap Rihanna" or "Punch Chris Brown."
The ad referenced the 2009 assault on Rihanna by Chris Brown.
Users quickly spotted the ad and shared screenshots, sparking outrage on social media.
Rihanna also issued a statement on Instagram accusing Snapchat of intentionally shaming domestic violence victims.
As a result, they lost about $800 million from Snap Inc.'s market value.
Snapchat's response:
- They quickly removed the offensive ad from their platform.
- The company issued an apology, calling the ad "disgusting" and a violation of their guidelines.
- Snapchat blocked the game from advertising and launched an internal investigation.
- They explained that the ad was approved in error, acknowledging a breakdown in their review process.
- Ad review processes are crucial. One slip-up can lead to a major crisis.
- Celebrity involvement can turn a bad situation into a catastrophe.
- Quick removal of offensive content isn't always enough to fix the situation.
- You need to be extremely sensitive when dealing with serious issues like domestic violence.
- Social media platforms bear responsibility for the content they allow, including ads.
Source: Morehouse college
In July 2018, Papa John's Founder John Schnatter used a racial slur during a conference call in May.
He said, "Colonel Sanders called blacks n-----s," complaining Sanders never faced backlash.
The call was meant to be a PR training exercise. Ironically.
When Forbes broke the story two months later, social media exploded with outrage.
Papa John's response:
- Schnatter initially confirmed the allegations and apologized.
- He resigned as chairman of Papa John's board on July 11, 2018.
- The company launched a campaign showcasing efforts for a more inclusive environment.
- Papa John's ordered a third-party audit of its practices.
- After that, Schnatter claimed he was set up, saying the call was recorded without his knowledge.
- Words matter, even in "private" conversations. What happens on conference calls doesn't always stay on conference calls.
- Act fast when a crisis hits. Papa John's quick distancing from Schnatter helped with damage control.
- Be transparent about fixing the problem. The third-party audit showed Papa John's was serious about change.
- Leadership sets the tone. One person's actions can impact an entire company's image.
Image source: ISS Insights
In August 2018, Elon Musk, Tesla's CEO, tweeted about taking Tesla private at $420 per share, claiming "funding secured."
This led to a major controversy and an SEC (The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission) investigation.
First, Tesla’s stock price soared. But it quickly became clear that funding was not actually secured.
The SEC then launched an investigation and Tesla's stock became volatile.
They also sought to distribute $40 million plus interest to affected investors.
Tesla’s response:
- Musk clarified he was in talks with Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund.
- He settled with the SEC without admitting guilt, stepping down as chairman and paying a $20 million fine.
- Tesla paid an additional $20 million penalty and agreed to oversee Musk's company-related social media communications.
Lessons Learned:
- Social media statements can have significant financial implications.
- CEO communications need more oversight in public companies.
- Transparency and accuracy are crucial in financial disclosures.
- Regulatory bodies take misleading statements seriously, even on social media .
- Crisis management should include rapid response and clarification.
In April 2023, Bud Light partnered with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney for a promotional campaign.
This led to unexpected controversy and significant business impact.
The partnership faced criticism from conservative figures, quickly escalating into calls for a boycott.
Social media amplified the controversy, affecting brand perception and sales.
Bud Light's US sales dropped by about 15% in Q2 2023, and the brand temporarily lost its position as America's best-selling beer.
Bud Light's response:
- CEO Brendan Whitworth released a statement on April 14, seemingly distancing the company from the partnership.
- Two executives were reportedly put on leave.
- The company's response was perceived as not fully supporting their initial decision and partner. Which created even more backlash.
- Consistency in brand values is essential, especially during controversies.
- Strong support for partnership decisions can reinforce brand integrity.
- Crisis management should prioritize standing by intentional, inclusive marketing choices.
- Transparent communication with all stakeholders is essential during controversies.
- Brands need to be prepared for potential backlash when engaging with socially progressive issues.
So, what have we learned from these 15 examples of social media crises?
Let’s summarize it.
Ensure fast response
We saw that a fast response is crucial when a crisis hits.
Companies like KFC and H&M demonstrated that quick, thoughtful responses can help mitigate damage.
Ideally, you need to spot the issue within minutes and respond within hours—not days.
The good news is: tools like Talkwalker for Crisis Management help you monitor online conversations 24/7 and instantly identify potential crises.
Stay true to yourself
It’s also essential to stay authentic and consistent when you issue an official response.
Remember to stick to your values and brand personality.
For example, KFC got positive feedback for its helpful yet humorous reaction. And Gillette was praised for staying firm on its values,
On the contrary, Bud was criticized for changing its course on featuring a transgender person after the first wave of criticism.
Ensure diversity
Next, always add diverse perspectives to your content creation process.
Many crises, such as those faced by Dove, H&M, and Peloton, could have been avoided with more diverse input.
Keep your leadership in the loop
As seen in the Papa John's and Lululemon cases, company leaders' actions and responses can make or break a crisis.
You also need to train and prepare them to address issues directly and appropriately.
If you take away one thing from the examples above, it's that during a crisis, time is of the essence.
The faster you respond to a crisis, the less time it has to spread.
Social listening a nd crisis management tools are vital for this.
By proactively listening to what consumers are saying about your brand, competitors, and industry, you can:
- Be alert to any potential crises before they escalate
- Gather real-time insights to shape your response strategy
- Understand the sentiment and concerns of your audience
- Identify key influencers and channels driving the conversation
Ready to give it a try?
Learn how Talkwalker can help you prevent and mitigate social media crises .
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What is a Social Media Crisis?
Types of social media crises, social media crisis examples, example 1: give orangutans a break, example 2: tag scandal, example 3: sorry, you’re not going to fly, example 4: youtube scandal.
Detect - React - Prevent
4 Examples of Social Media Crises That Could Have Been Prevented
Kinga Edwards
Jun, 24, 2021
Reading time
“Post has been published.” And now there’s no turning back.
We all know the feeling when your heart starts beating faster, and you see things are not going your way. The campaign you created with your team has taken a wrong turn, and a wave of negativity begins to wash over your brand.
Every reaction, every answer counts now – it’s up to you how the whole affair will develop further.
💡 Read Crisis Management 101: How to Save Your Business When a Crisis Strikes
Let’s take a look at these social media crisis examples that could have been prevented and draw some useful conclusions from them.
The Internet doesn’t forget. Even a good crisis management strategy can’t prevent unexpected slip-ups. In this case, you only have one option – learn how to deal with them and react at the very moment when they occur.
The answer may seem obvious, but it’s a reasonable question. How do you know when a mishap becomes a crisis?
Simply put, a social media crisis is anything that could negatively impact your business’s reputation and reception through social media.
It’s much more than one negative opinion or comment under a post. A crisis is a situation that creates a wave of offensive statements which get out of your control.
Read Four Crisis Management Steps to Take to Stop a Disaster
Social media crises can even be classified into types:
- Multi-channel crisis – extremely dangerous because it has the potential to go viral and generate a great deal of negative publicity very quickly.
- Emerging crisis – If you don’t anticipate and deal with it as soon as possible, it can quickly escalate into a bigger scandal.
- Industry crisis – occurs when a vendor or competitor is experiencing a social media crisis. For example, when many fashion brands are suddenly all attacked for non-transparent actions.
- Fake news – in the age of social media, a post can go viral in just one click. The ability to detect rumors about your brand quickly is essential.
Read 5 Key Elements Every Social Media Crisis Plan Needs
It is important to remember not to wait for the situation to calm down on its own – that won’t happen. You have to react immediately.
Unfortunately, some PR managers think it would be better to delete a post and pretend that nothing happened. Don’t be like them.
We scoured the Internet to find the scandals that caused the biggest uproars over the years. The following social media crises should serve as reminders to you of how not to handle image disasters.
Read Social Media Crisis Management Guide – What to Do When Disaster Strikes
What happened:
In 2010, Greenpeace launched a campaign to highlight how Nestlé’s sourcing of palm oil was endangering orangutans in Indonesia. They parodied the KitKat slogan, changing it to “Have a break? Give orangutans a break.”
The YouTube video quickly became a viral hit because it revealed the problem bluntly – the video presented a bored office worker taking a break to enjoy a KitKat but instead biting into an orangutan’s finger.
This is an example of a campaign designed for a good purpose but was controversial enough to cause Nestlé many problems.
Read Crisis Communications Plan In 8 Steps
Where this brand went wrong:
How did Nestlé deal with this social media crisis? The word “deal” is overused here. They did nothing more than remove the video, alleging Greenpeace of copyright infringement. What’s more, Nestlé received many social media comments, but they decided to delete every mention that wasn’t in their favor.
How this problem could have been prevented:
Nestlé showed by its actions that it was trying to hide the problem at all costs. This wasn’t a good idea because it only fueled people to continue talking about it. If someone has a negative opinion about your brand, let them speak. Nestlé should have calmly explained their side and tried some greenwashing strategy.
Read Controversial PR: How To Get Your Consumers Talking About Your Brand
Tip! It’s much easier to handle a social media crisis if you know where the discussion originated. Determ allows you to track every hashtag, comment, and mention of your brand so that you can react immediately.
While promoting the brand Veclaim, Jessica Mercedes, a founder, assured that they produce all their clothes in Poland. One of the things that she stressed repeatedly was the high quality of her clothes. “Made in Poland” was the trademark of her brand.
When it turned out that some of the t-shirts she sold were based on Fruit of the Loom clothing (a famously cheap t-shirt brand), social media erupted in outrage. It turned out that the original tags had simply been torn off and replaced with Veclaim labels.
The Internet was quickly filled with comments from embittered customers of the brand who felt cheated and a wave of criticism fell upon the brand.
On the brand’s Facebook profile, many unfavorable comments were deleted, while on the brand’s Instagram and Jessica Mercedes’ profile, the ability to comment on posts was disabled.
What is more, the information stating “all our products are made in Poland” disappeared from the Veclaim website.
The official statement only made matters worse – it lacked an apology, and the brand’s explanation was poorly written and did not explain anything.
By responding to the first signs of trouble. Instead of reacting loudly and writing a statement, they pretended that nothing had happened, and that’s never a good idea (especially on the Internet).
Tip! If a brand uses a social media listening tool , it can quickly detect emerging mentions. They would be able to react swiftly and clarify an emerging situation before it escalates.
This is an example of how to turn a PR social media crisis into a total disaster. One day in 2017, United Airlines Flight 3411 was overbooked. The airline decided to draw 4 random passengers who would not be able to fly and asked them to vacate their seats to make room for 4 airline employees. When the crew requested a pulmonologist to surrender his seat, he refused, saying that he needed to see a patient the following day (which was understandable, as he had paid for that seat).
After that, security appeared on the plane and forcibly dragged the man off the plane with a bleeding face. A fellow passenger recorded the whole situation on the flight and immediately posted it online.
A video of the incident went viral on social media, stoking anger over the violent action. One such video was shared 87,000 times and viewed 6.8 million times in less than a day.
Many politicians expressed concern and called for an official investigation. Donald Trump criticized United Airlines, saying the airline’s treatment of the passenger was “horrible.”
The following day, the then-CEO of United Airlines, Oscar Munoz, issued a statement that appeared to justify the removal of the passenger. And it gets worse.
After that, Munoz sent an email to United Airlines staff, and the media somehow obtained it. Munoz said the passenger was “disruptive and belligerent” and that employees “followed established procedures.”
The email contained utterly different information from the official statement. This caused more online fury. United shares plummeted in value dramatically.
Read Crisis Management Plan: How to Keep Your Business Afloat?
A coherent, sincere message at first. The airline should have responded to each and every comment with complete respect. There was no reason for them to blame a passenger whose safety they should have been prioritizing. They should have explained the whole situation.
What happened:
Even though this one is an old example, we should mention it as a precaution. It was Easter Sunday in Conover in the USA, and the Domino’s food chain was in danger.
Two employees, counting on their popularity (in which they succeeded), shared a YouTube video in which they showed how to prepare the food in one of Domino’s restaurants.
There would be nothing wrong with the situation, but there was one problem: they did it in an awfully disgusting manner. We won’t go into details because you don’t want to know them, but after watching this video you wouldn’t be willing to eat there for sure.
The reaction of people was immediate. Within three days, the video had been viewed more than one million times, and Domino’s dominated Google search results for all the wrong reasons.
Read PR Statistics 2024: Trends and Challenges in PR
Customer perception of Domino’s brand turned negative within hours of the unfortunate publication. Despite this, Domino’s reaction took a very long time – they waited a few days before making a statement in which they apologized for the whole situation.
Domino’s marketing team should have reacted as soon as the video was published. They shouldn’t have allowed people to spread fake news . However, we do have to take into account that it was one of the first such colossal Internet scandals.
They didn’t have experience with good crisis management (Domino’s had just assembled a social media team a month before), and they didn’t want to make any hasty decisions.
Nevertheless, if the whole situation happened now, they would probably react very differently and they would know that in such a case, every minute and every “view” matters.
Detect – React – Prevent
Preventing a social media crisis is possible if you react quickly and detect the dangers as soon as they occur.
It’s apparent that you can’t monitor the whole Internet all the time. However, this problem can be solved. Are people spreading rumors about your brand? A social media monitoring tool, like Determ, will keep you informed and notify you as soon as somebody mentions your business online .
You don’t need to consider if the mention is negative because Determ automatically detects the sentiment . This will allow you to respond faster and see only those mentions that matter. Manage crises more effectively by visiting every article, hashtag, or comment as soon as they’re published.
By using Determ , you can be sure that you are doing everything in your power to avoid appearing on the list above. Do you want to start?
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Melissa Agnes - Crisis Management Keynote Speaker
Free Social Media Crisis Case Studies
Free crisis management case studies.
It seems as though each week we watch as another organization faces – and attempts to manage – some form of issue or crisis. And with each new incident, there are always great lessons and takeaways that can be applied to strengthen your own organization’s crisis preparedness. This page is dedicated to helping you pull out those lessons in a practical and useful way. Whether you’re doing research for a project or a presentation, or are simply looking to learn by example and strengthen your organization’s crisis preparedness program – you’ve come to the right place! All of the crisis case studies within this page feed from Melissa Agnes's blog, which means that this page is kept current with the latest scandals and crisis management lessons. All of the case studies are organized by category, so simply choose the one that appeals to you and enjoy the reads!
Choose your category of case study
- Crock-Pot: Baffling Proof That Issues Can Strangely Emerge From Anywhere
- Was Dyn, Inc. Crisis-Ready?
- Was the Dallas Police Department Crisis Ready?
- Podcast: Fort McMurray Wildfire with Garth Rowan
- California Oil Spill: Plains All American Pipeline’s Lack of Crisis Response
- Crisis Communication Strategy: Take a Cue from BBC
- Lessons From BBC’s Ebola Education Initiative via WhatsApp
- WhatsApp As An Ebola Crisis Communication Strategy
- How To Use your Brand Values to Prevent a Crisis
- AppFirst: A Crisis Management Success Story
- Buffer Was Severely Hacked and Now They Have Even More Loyal Customers!
- JC Penney and their Hitler Teapot Debacle
- DKNY: The Perfect Example of How to Avoid a Social Media Crisis
- KitchenAid: An Excellent Example in Social Media Crisis Communications
- GoDaddy Crisis Reviewed: A Pass in Social Media Crisis Communications
- Boingo: The Makings of a Great Social Media Crisis Plan
- United Airlines, What Were You Thinking?
- Wells Fargo’s Crisis Management Fail
- How To Prevent Crises In Your PR and Marketing Campaigns
- Hotel Fines Newlyweds $500 For Negative Reviews – What Were They Thinking?
- Lost River Pizza’s Reply to the BBB – Hilariously Pathetic!
- Rona's laughable "Senior Director of Communications and Public Affairs"
- 9 Ways To Make Sure Your Brand Becomes the Laughing-Stock of the Internet
- Take a Cue from Browns: How NOT to Respond to a Social Media Crisis
- How To Overcome Damaging Online Rumors
- How To Protect Your Accounts From Hackers
- How Powerful Can One Unhappy Customer Truly Be?
- Online Reputation Management: Interview with Hip Hop Artist, DeLon
- War of Ideas: How to Fight and Win on the Social Media Front (three-part series)
- Snowstorm Results in Total Meltdown in Atlanta Area
- Google Helps Locate Missing People in Wake of Super Typhoon Haiyan
- The City of Ottawa’s Response to the OC Transpo & Via Rail Crash
- Lac-Mégantic Crisis: A Look at Rail World Inc.’s Crisis Communications #Fail
- The Mayor of Toronto’s Crack Cocaine Crisis
- Calgary Floods: Analysis of Crisis Leadership and Use of Social Media
- Quebec’s Societal Crisis: Premier Pauline Marois’s Charter of Values
- The Australian Army: A Beautiful Example of Crisis Communications
- The Mayor of Huntingdon Likes to Run Over Cats
- Working With Your Community in a Crisis: How Officials of The Boston Marathon Bombing Did It Right
- Social Media and Online Reputation Crisis in the London Olympics: Lessons Learned
- Twitter Rotation Curation – Too Risky or Just Risky Enough?
- Politicians and Social Media: Francois Legault’s Sexist Twitter-Storm
- Jay Townsend’s Non-Apology Dissected
- 2012 Olympic Games’ Social Media Guidelines: Has The IOC Taken it Too Far?
- The Red Cross: The Makings of a Great Social Media Crisis Plan
- How Can Schools Protect Themselves From Student Defamers?
- California School District Prevents Crises by Monitoring Students’ Social Media Posts
- An Excellent Example of Twitter Use in Atlanta School Shooting
- Social Media Monitoring and Restrictions: A Former Student-Athlete’s Perspective
- 5 Lessons from Penn State’s Social Media Crisis Communications Fail
- Now Illegal: Schools and Employers Can No Longer Request Access To Your Social Media Accounts
- Important Crisis Management Strategies for Managing the Zika Virus
- Analyzing the CDC’s Crisis Communication In U.S. Ebola Outbreak
- Emory’s Excellent Crisis Communication on Facebook
- Social Media for Healthcare: What’s The Potential?
- Newborn Abducted from Hospital and Social Media Saves the Day
- DiGiorno Pizza’s Foolish Twitter Gaffe
- Pizza Hut is the Most Recent in “Fast Food Disgusts”, But Is It a Crisis?
- Taco Bell’s Social Media Issues Communications Fail
- Should The Applebee's Waitress Have Been Fired?
- KFC, Stop Your Marketing Messages in a Crisis!
- Chick-Fil-A and Oreo Controversies: Where Do They Differ and What Can You Learn?
- Could Chick-Fil-A Be Headed For Yet Another Social Media Crisis?
- 5 Lessons To Learn From Chick-Fil-A’s Social Media Crisis
- Starbucks’s Lesson: A Social Media Attack Can Arise When Least Expected
- Can McDonald’s New Truth Campaign Launch Them Into a Social Media Attack?
- Fontaine Santé: The Makings of a Great Crisis Response
- Domino’s Pizza: A Look At the Timelessness of A Social Media Crisis Plan
- Are Airlines Being Descriptive Enough in their Galaxy Note 7 Warning?
- A Message to Air Canada (and everyone else): Make Issues Management an Integral Part of your Corporate Culture
- WTF US Airways??!!!
- What You Don’t Know About Malaysia Airlines and How They’ve Handled the Crisis of Flight MH370
- A Look at Malaysia Airlines’s Crisis Communications During the Crisis of Flight MH370
- Does a DDoS Attack Present a Crisis for Your Organization?
- 5 Steps to Developping a Cyber Security Crisis Management Plan
- Your Guide for Data Breach Crisis Communication
- Crisis Preparedness Strategy for Data Breach Hack Crisis
- Lac-Mégantic Crisis: Citizens Using Social Media to Help a Community in Need
- 3 Crisis Management Trends To Watch Out For In 2017
- Are You Ready For a Live-Streamed Crisis?
- How To Manage a Live-Streamed Crisis
- Hashtag Brandjack Campaigns – Lessons From #AskChevron
- What if a Promoted Tweet Were Used Against Your Brand? Are You Ready?
- As Social Media Evolves, So Must Your Issues Management Plan
- Biggest Lesson Leaders Need To Learn From The Criminal Charges Against Volkswagen Executives
- Update on Recent Crises: Paula Deen and the Lac-Mégantic Disaster
- Susan G. Komen Suffers Long-Term Repercussions after 2012 Crisis
- Carnival Cruise Suffers Long-Term Repercussions After “Poop Cruise” Crisis
- How to Balance Timeliness and Accuracy in Your Crisis Response
- Crisis Management Lessons: What Do Ryan Lochte and Paula Deen Have in Common?
- With 6 Toddlers Dead, What Should IKEA’s Next Steps in Crisis Management Be?
- Your Executives’ Reputations Impact Your Brand, Whether You Like It or Not
- Analyzing Uber’s Response to Rape Crisis in New Delhi + 2 Lessons for Every Company to Learn
- The Biggest Crisis Management Lesson from the Jian Ghomeshi Scandal
- NZ Herald and Their Big Photo “Faux Pas”
- When You Screw Up, Own It and Grow From It
- Bad Suppliers can Result in Viral Attention
- The Power of the Lingering Risk
- Don’t Fear Social Media Issues. Embrace Them!
- Calgary's Phenomenal Crisis Management during the 2013 Floods
- A Beautiful Example of Crisis Communications by the Australian Army
- Lessons to Learn from Paula Deen’s Three Crappy Apologies
- The Use of Hashtags in Your Crisis Communications
- Rona’s HUGE Customer Care Fail and Lessons for Smarter Brands
- It’s No April Fool’s Joke, The Case of the Disappearing Facebook Account
- What You Can Learn From Carnival Cruise’s Crisis Communications on Social Media
- Don’t Get Caught With Your Pants Down Like “Just Jeans”!
- Crisis Prevention Lesson from American Apparel
- Information Leakage: How To Deal With It
- Stop Attempting to Withhold and Control on Social Media!
- What Can You Learn From Linkedin’s Social Media Crisis?
- You Cannot Fire Employees for what they “Like” on Facebook
- Are You Violating Your Employees Right To Free Speech?
- What is California’s “Erase” Law for Minors on Social Media
- Are You Liable for Tweeting and/or Retweeting an Offensive Tweet?
- Melissa Agnes Discusses Ebola Crisis and Jian Ghomeshi Scandal on CJAD
- Analysis on the Applebee and HMV Social Media Issues (Video)
- The Chick-Fil-A Controversy: Interview with Larry Fedoruk
- Interview with Taylor Guitars: The Power of Real-Time Communication
- Melissa Agnes discusses crises with Tommy Schnurmacher on CJAD
- What Is Your Organization’s Threshold for Firing Someone For Personal Misconduct?
- When Is It OK to Implement an Offensive Crisis Management Strategy?
- Apple’s Huge Security Breach and Lack of Proper Crisis Communications
- Apple Fixes its Security Breach But Does Not Mention It
- Will Paula Deen’s Comeback be Successful, Or Did Last Year’s Crisis Bury Her Too Deep?
- iPhone Fire: Apple Lacks Issues and Crisis Management
- Is Twitter On Its Way To Experiencing Its Own Social Media Crisis?
- Sexism is Alive and Well – and a Major Risk Issue
- Irving Oil’s Facebook Statement in a Crisis – What Do You Think?
- When Does a Social Media Issue Campaign Go Too Far?
- Bic For Her: The Latest in Social Media Attacks
- How To Protect Yourself When Social Media Channels Become The Bully
- Passing The Blame is Not An Acceptable Crisis Response
- One Brand’s Social Media Crisis is Another Brand’s Social Media Salvation
This page was last updated on April 2018.
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Social Media Crisis Communication: A Complete Guide [2024]
Social media crisis communication for brands comes down to one simple question: How can you help? Here’s how to make sure you’re prepared.
Table of Contents
When crisis hits, social media is a key communication channel. In this post, we look at social media crisis communication during a real-world crisis or emergency.
To be clear, these are tactics for challenging times. That means things like natural disasters, epidemics, threats to public safety, and economic collapse.
If you’re looking for information on how to handle a social media PR crisis, find that info here .
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What is social media crisis communication?
Social media crisis communication means using social channels to communicate during a crisis or emergency. Social channels are a fast and efficient way to distribute information, both to existing followers and to the broader public.
The main advantage of social media in times of crisis is the ability to communicate in real time. But the very fast spread of information can also be a disadvantage. There’s potential to spread misinformation or respond in a way that makes your brand look insensitive or foolish.
Creating a social media crisis communication strategy before disaster strikes allows you to plan with cool heads and clear eyes. This puts you in a better position to think logically about the best way to use your social channels for good.
How to build a social media crisis communication strategy
We can’t always predict crises, but we can prepare for them. An official social media crisis communications plan can help you know the most effective way to respond when things get serious.
A good crisis communications plan provides steps for a solid but flexible response process. It also compiles all the crucial internal information you need to move forward.
1. Identify your crisis response team
First things first: You need to document who is in charge during a crisis. Is it your existing social team? Do you need to call in extra support? Will your social content follow your regular approval process? Or do you need to get more senior people involved?
Identify the people who are best suited for each of these critical roles:
- Creating, reviewing, and approving social posts
- Posting social updates
- Answering public and private messages and questions
- Handling customer support
- Monitoring the wider conversation and flagging important developments
- Fact-checking information and/or correcting rumors
It’s also helpful to have people responsible for:
- Strategizing for the medium-term (as well as day-to-day)
- Coordinating/communicating with other teams. This can include external stakeholders and the rest of the organization.
Clearly outline the responsibilities for each of these roles. Everyone should understand their mission and be ready to act.
When creating a social media crisis management plan, make sure to have an up-to-date emergency contact list. Record the names, positions and contact info of everyone who needs to be in the loop about your social media content during a crisis. Include legal advisors and executive decision-makers as well as your social team.
Go through this list regularly to ensure all contact information is correct. Check that everyone has the appropriate permissions for your social accounts. Using a social media management tool like Hootsuite allows you to change permissions and access quickly. This means you can easily align roles to your emergency chain of content approval.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fToZhddVPLQ
2. Create triage and priority guidelines
Things move fast in the first 24 hours of a crisis. You’ll be in a better position to respond rapidly if you’ve got an action plan in place.
This comes down to pre-planning. What possible situations could impact your community, the world, and your business? This could mean anything from a new wave of the pandemic to a natural disaster to a tragic violent or political event.
It’s impossible to plan for all potential crises. But it’s worth the time to plan for anything you can think of.
Then consider what will be most important for your followers to know in each type of crisis. You can’t predict every angle, but brainstorming responses will give you a head start. Prioritize essential information. Focus on how you’ll share the most critical and relevant information first. For example, this might include evacuation orders, emergency contact numbers, or shelter locations.
Also create guidelines for identifying the scope of the crisis (i.e., is it global or local, does it affect your operations, does it affect your customers, and to what extent?).
Finally, create guidelines for prioritizing inbound messages during a crisis. Prepare templates or partly developed emergency resources in advance. This leaves you in a good position to respond to simple questions through an intelligent chatbot or autoresponder. Your team can focus on addressing more complex needs.
3. Specify posting platforms and schedules
When something awful or unexpected occurs, where will you respond… and when? Make a list of all your relevant social media platforms. Include how quickly you expect to post to each surface in the event of a global or community emergency. Also think about how often you should post.
Consider the different audiences you reach on each channel . How can you best target your information to make sure you get the right details to the right people? For example, say there’s a health crisis disproportionately affecting people under 25. You might want to focus on your TikTok response . If an economic crisis created mass layoffs, LinkedIn could be the better choice.
Make sure to pause existing scheduled posts. They will distract from your crisis communications plan. They’re also likely inappropriate in tone.
4. Develop an internal crisis communications plan
Communications begin at home. As your organization moves forward through a challenge, you’ll need your employees on board.
Are you announcing relief efforts, donations, or useful resources? Employees can help spread the word through an employee advocacy program . This is also a good time to remind them of your organization’s social media guidelines for employees . (Make sure you’ve included any crisis-specific amendments.)
Your brand may be in a tense position because of the crisis (layoffs, backlash, etc.), too. Be ready for employees to express their feelings on social. Make sure employees understand the commitment made through your social media policy . That should include not disclosing private company info on social media.
Make sure you have a plan in place to support your social marketing team. Your content moderators may have a particularly difficult time . Handling incoming content can be tough on the psyche at the best of times. During a crisis, your public-facing social and customer service employees need extra support.
Sometimes it’s impossible to get everyone pulling towards the same goal. In this case, social listening can help you understand your employees’ concerns better. On that note…
5. Plan your social listening approach
As a crisis unfolds, it’s critical to stay informed about what’s happening on the ground. You also need to know what your employees, customers, and followers are saying about your brand as you navigate the crisis.
Do you already have a social listening program in place? Great! You can pivot to crisis-oriented social listening with a few tweaks of your tracked keywords. If you don’t have a social listening tool or strategy in place yet, it’s worth setting one up now. The information you gather is helpful even when things are all smooth sailing.
Make sure your social media crisis communication plan specifies how to report and share information gathered through social listening. This includes noting how quickly you need to respond. Make sure to verify incoming information before sharing it publicly.
6. Align your crisis plan with your social media policy
Do you already have a social media policy and social media guidelines in place? If not, you should develop them as part of your social media crisis communications planning.
Your social media policy provides guidelines and requirements for your brand’s social media channels.
Your social media guidelines outline expectations for employees on their personal social accounts.
Align your social media crisis communications plan with your policy and guidelines. Link between the documents so all the information is easy to find when needed.
Some crisis-specific issues to consider are:
- What’s the right tone during a crisis? Does it differ from your usual social media brand voice ?
- What is your policy on responding to negative comments or feedback?
- Who can speak on behalf of the brand in a crisis scenario?
- Where can employees access approved information to share on their own channels?
Social media crisis communication examples
Let’s review some crisis communication social media case studies to see how real brands and organizations are using social tools during difficult times.
Example 1: Government of British Columbia
The Government of British Columbia uses its Instagram account to share information about emergencies in the province, both as they happen and when there are steps to take in advance. All emergency information posts have a red background, to make them easy to find when scrolling through the feed.
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Government of British Columbia (@governmentofbc)
They also use a pinned post to provide a list of emergency contact information and resources for residents.
And they compile all the emergency information posts into an Instagram Story highlight for even greater visibility.
Source: @governmentofbc
They have similar pinned posts on Facebook and Twitter so that residents have easy access to emergency resources no matter which social platform they use most often.
Stay up to date with the latest #BCFlood and #BCWildfire info: @BCGovFireInfo for wildfire news and updates @PreparedBC to prepare for emergencies @ECCCWeatherBC for weather alerts @EmergencyInfoBC for latest updates @DriveBC for road conditions @TranBC for highway disruptions pic.twitter.com/xYuG87Sn77 — BC Government News (@BCGovNews) May 4, 2023
Notice that on the Twitter post, they link directly to the Twitter profiles of the relevant departments rather than providing URLs in the graphic.
Example 2: Nova Scotia Department of Health and Wellness
Nova Scotia has had to deal with major wildfires this spring. Other provincial and governmental accounts are focused on emergency response details like evacuation orders and plans. Meanwhile, the Department of Health and Wellness is focused on how the fires are affecting Nova Scotians’ health, including symptoms to watch out for.
In areas affected by smoke from the wildfire, air quality can impact your health. #NSFire Symptoms can be mild (sore eyes, cough, runny nose) or more severe (worsening of underlying lung or heart conditions). Children, elderly people, those with underlying health conditions pic.twitter.com/tNDeuU20F4 — Health & Wellness (@nshealth) May 31, 2023
They also use their feed to retweet relevant information from the Nova Scotia Health Authority.
Nova Scotia Health’s mobile primary care clinic opened a drop-in clinic for those displaced by the Tantallon/Hammonds Plains fire at the Canada Games Comfort Centre, 26 Thomas Raddall Dr., Halifax on May 29 from 1 – 5 p.m. and May 30 from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. https://t.co/7uS6KLU2sI pic.twitter.com/y5brBxXiOX — Nova Scotia Health (@HealthNS) May 29, 2023
Example 3: GoFundMe
When crises hit families and communities, many people turn to crowdfunding sites like GoFundMe to offer their financial support. However, it can be a challenge to ensure you’re donating to people really impacted, rather than those taking advantage.
When crisis occurs in communities, GoFundMe uses posts on its social channels to link to pages with fundraisers verified by their trust and safety team.
View this post on Instagram A post shared by GoFundMe (@gofundme)
FAQs about social media crisis communication
We have answers to your most common questions about social media and crisis communication.
What are the 4 stages of social media crisis communication?
The four stages of social media crisis communication are:
- Pre-crisis: This is the time when all is going well. Take time before crisis hits to develop your social media crisis communication plan.
- Crisis: This is when you are in the thick of crisis management. In the immediate wake of the crisis, your social media team goes into high gear to implement your emergency response plan.
- Response: You’ve had time to better understand the situation. After the initial emergency plan is put in place, you can implement your medium-to-longer-term social media strategy for dealing with ongoing issues related to the crisis.
- Post-crisis: After the crisis is over, look back at your response to evaluate how things went and what can be improved. Incorporate your learnings into a revised social media crisis communications plan. This will help you be better prepared for the next crisis. (And takes you back to the pre-crisis stage.)
What are the advantages of social media in crisis communication?
We live in a world where 50% of Americans get at least some of their news from social media . It’s where many people expect to find breaking news first.
During a crisis, social media can help you:
- Communicate critical updates to your audience in real time;
- Prevent the spread of misinformation by amplifying official messages;
- Provide direct assistance (when possible) to people who need help or information;
- Monitor online sentiment to better understand what people need from your organization;
- Mobilize resources and support to connect those in need with those who can help;
- Evaluate your outreach efforts and note trends and sources of misinformation for the next crisis.
How do you manage a crisis using social media?
The most effective way to manage a crisis using social media is to prepare a communications plan in advance. Once the crisis strikes, be sure to do the following:
- Pause all scheduled social media posts
- Gather your crisis response team to determine an immediate plan
- Plan your social content to get your message to the most relevant audiences
- Implement your crisis approval workflow
- Use social listening to understand what’s happening as well as the public’s response.
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Living Better
The truth about teens, social media and the mental health crisis.
Michaeleen Doucleff
For years, the research picture on how social media affects teen mental health has been murky. That is changing as scientists find new tools to answer the question. Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
For years, the research picture on how social media affects teen mental health has been murky. That is changing as scientists find new tools to answer the question.
Back in 2017, psychologist Jean Twenge set off a firestorm in the field of psychology.
Twenge studies generational trends at San Diego State University. When she looked at mental health metrics for teenagers around 2012, what she saw shocked her. "In all my analyses of generational data — some reaching back to the 1930s — I had never seen anything like it," Twenge wrote in the Atlantic in 2017.
Twenge warned of a mental health crisis on the horizon. Rates of depression, anxiety and loneliness were rising. And she had a hypothesis for the cause: smartphones and all the social media that comes along with them. "Smartphones were used by the majority of Americans around 2012, and that's the same time loneliness increases. That's very suspicious," Twenge told NPR in 2017.
But many of her colleagues were skeptical. Some even accused her of inciting a panic with too little — and too weak — data to back her claims.
Now, six years later, Twenge is back. She has a new book out this week, called Generations , with much more data backing her hypothesis. At the same time, several high-quality studies have begun to answer critical questions, such as does social media cause teens to become depressed and is it a key contributor to a rise in depression?
In particular, studies from three different types of experiments, altogether, point in the same direction. "Indeed, I think the picture is getting more and more consistent," says economist Alexey Makarin , at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Shots - Health News
How to help young people limit screen time — and feel better about how they look, a seismic change in how teens spend their time.
In Generations , Twenge analyzes mental health trends for five age groups, from the Silent Generation, who were born between 1925 and 1945, to Gen Z, who were born between 1995 and 2012. She shows definitively that "the way teens spend their time outside of school fundamentally changed in 2012," as Twenge writes in the book.
Take for instance, hanging out with friends, in person. Since 1976, the number of times per week teens go out with friends — and without their parents — held basically steady for nearly 30 years. In 2004, it slid a bit. Then in 2010, it nosedived.
"It was just like a Black Diamond ski slope straight down," Twenge tells NPR. "So these really big changes occur."
At the same time, around 2012, time on social media began to soar. In 2009, only about half of teens used social media every day, Twenge reports. In 2017, 85% used it daily. By 2022, 95% of teens said they use some social media, and about a third say they use it constantly, a poll from Pew Research Center found .
"Now, in the most recent data, 22% of 10th grade girls spend seven or more hours a day on social media," Twenge says, which means many teenage girls are doing little else than sleeping, going to school and engaging with social media.
Not surprisingly, all this screen time has cut into many kids' sleep time. Between 2010 and 2021, the percentage of 10th and 12th graders who slept seven or fewer hours each night rose from a third to nearly one-half. "That's a big jump," Twenge says. "Kids in that age group are supposed to sleep nine hours a night. So less than seven hours is a really serious problem."
Teen girls and LGBTQ+ youth plagued by violence and trauma, survey says
On its own, sleep deprivation can cause mental health issues. "Sleep is absolutely crucial for physical health and for mental health. Not getting enough sleep is a major risk factor for anxiety and depression and self-harm," she explains. Unfortunately, all of those mental health problems have continued to rise since Twenge first sounded the alarm six years ago.
"Nuclear bomb" on teen social life
"Every indicator of mental health and psychological well-being has become more negative among teens and young adults since 2012," Twenge writes in Generations . "The trends are stunning in their consistency, breadth and size."
Across the board, since 2010, anxiety, depression and loneliness have all increased . "And it's not just symptoms that rose, but also behaviors," she says, "including emergency room visits for self-harm, for suicide attempts and completed suicides." The data goes up through 2019, so it doesn't include changes due to COVID-19.
All these rapid changes coincide with what, Twenge says, may be the most rapid uptake in a new technology in human history: the incorporation of smartphones into our lives, which has allowed nearly nonstop engagement with social media apps. Apple introduced the first iPhones in 2007, and by 2012, about 50% of American adults owned a smartphone, the Pew Research Center found .
The timing is hard to ignore, says data scientist Chris Said , who has a Ph.D. in psychology from Princeton University and has worked at Facebook and Twitter. "Social media was like a nuclear bomb on teen social life," he says. "I don't think there's anything in recent memory, or even distant history, that has changed the way teens socialize as much as social media."
Murky picture becomes clearer on causes of teen depression
But the timing doesn't tell you whether social media actually causes depression in teens.
In the past decade, scientists have published a whole slew of studies trying to answer this question, and those studies sparked intense debate among scientists and in the media. But, Said says, what many people don't realize is scientists weren't using — or didn't even have — the proper tools to answer the question. "This is a very hard problem to study," he says. "The data they were analyzing couldn't really solve the problem."
Mental Health
The mental health of teen girls and lgbtq+ teens has worsened since 2011.
So the findings have been all over the place. They've been murky, noisy, inconclusive and confusing. "When you use tools that can't fully answer the question, you're going to get weak answers," he says. "So I think that's one reason why really strong evidence didn't show up in the data, at least early on."
On top of it, psychology has a bad track record in this field, Said points out. For nearly a century, psychologists have repeatedly blamed new technologies for mental and physical health problems of children, even when they've had little — or shady — data to back up their claims.
For example, in the 1940s, psychologists worried that children were becoming addicted to radio crime dramas, psychologist Amy Orben at the University of Cambridge explains in her doctoral thesis. After that, they raised concerns about comic books, television and — eventually — video games. Thus, many researchers worried that social media may simply be the newest scapegoat for children's mental health issues.
A handful of scientists, including MIT's Alexey Makarin, noticed this problem with the data, the tools and the field's past failures, and so they took the matter into their own hands. They went out and found better tools.
Hundreds of thousands of more college students depressed
Over the past few years, several high-quality studies have come that can directly test whether social media causes depression. Instead of being murky and mixed, they support each other and show clear effects of social media. "The body of literature seems to suggest that indeed, social media has negative effects on mental health, especially on young adults' mental health," says Makarin, who led what many scientists say is the best study on the topic to date.
In that study, Makarin and his team took advantage of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: the staggered introduction of Facebook across U.S. colleges from 2004 to 2006. Facebook rolled out into society first on college campuses, but not all campuses introduced Facebook at the same time.
For Makarin and his colleagues, this staggered rollout is experimental gold.
"It allowed us to compare students' mental health between colleges where Facebook just arrived to colleges where Facebook had not yet arrived," he says. They could also measure how students' mental health shifted on a particular campus when people started to spend a bunch of their time on social media.
Luckily, his team could track mental health at the time because college administrators were also conducting a national survey that asked students an array of questions about their mental health, including diagnoses, therapies and medications for depression, anxiety and eating disorders. "These are not just people's feelings," Makarin says. "These are actual conditions that people have to report."
They had data on a large number of students. "The data comes from more than 350,000 student responses across more than 300 colleges," Makarin says.
This type of study is called a quasi-experiment, and it allows scientists to estimate how much social media actually changes teens' mental health, or as Makarin says, "We can get causal estimates of the impact of Facebook on mental health."
So what happened? "Almost immediately after Facebook arrives on campus, we see an uptick in mental health issues that students report," Makarin says. "We especially find an impact on depression rates, anxiety disorders and other questions associated with depression in general."
And the effect isn't small, he says. Across the population, the rollout of Facebook caused about 2% of college students to become clinically depressed. That may sound modest, but with more than 17 million college students in the U.S. at the time, that means Facebook caused more than 300,000 young adults to suffer from depression.
For an individual, on average, engaging with Facebook decreases their mental health by roughly 22% of the effect of losing one's job, as reported by a previous meta-analysis, Makarin and his team found.
Facebook's rollout had a larger effect on women's mental health than on men's mental health, the study showed. But the difference was small, Makarin says.
He and his colleagues published their findings last November in the American Economic Review . "I love that paper," says economist Matthew Gentzkow at Stanford University, who was not involved in the research. "It's probably the most convincing study I've seen. I think it shows a clear effect, and it's really credible. They did a good job of isolating the effect of Facebook, which isn't easy."
Of course, the study has limitations, Gentzkow says. First off, it's Facebook, which teens are using less and less. And the version of Facebook is barebones. In 2006, the platform didn't have a "like" button" or a "newsfeed." This older version probably wasn't as "potent" as social media now, says data scientist Chris Said. Furthermore, students used the platform only on a computer because smartphones weren't available yet. And the study only examined mental health impacts over a six-month period.
Nevertheless, the findings in this study bolster other recent studies, including one that Gentzkow led.
Social media is "like the ocean" for kids
Back in 2018, Gentzkow and his team recruited about 2,700 Facebook users ages 18 or over. They paid about half of them to deactivate their Facebook accounts for four weeks. Then Gentzkow and his team looked to see how a Facebook break shifted their mental health. They reported their findings in March 2020 in the American Economic Review.
This type of study is called a randomized experiment, and it's thought of as the best way to estimate whether a variable in life causes a particular problem. But with social media, these randomized experiments have big limitations. For one, the experiments are short-term — here only four weeks. Also, people use social media in clusters, not as individuals. So having individuals quit Facebook won't capture the effect of having an entire social group quit together. Both of these limitations could underestimate the impact of social media on an individual and community.
Nevertheless, Gentzkow could see how deactivating Facebook made people, on average, feel better. "Being off Facebook was positive across well-being outcomes," he says. "You see higher happiness, life satisfaction, and also lower depression, lower anxiety, and maybe a little bit lower loneliness."
Gentzkow and his team measured participants' well-being by giving them a survey at the end of the experiment but also asking questions, via text message, through the experiment. "For example, we sent people text messages that say, 'Right now, would you say you're feeling happy or not happy,'" he explains.
Again, as with Makarin's experiment, the effect was moderate. Gentzkow and his colleagues estimate that temporarily quitting Facebook improves a person's mental health by about 30% of the positive effect seen by going to therapy. "You could view that meaning these effects are pretty big," he explains, "or you could also see that as meaning that the effects of therapy are somewhat small. And I think both of those things are true to an extent."
Scientists still don't know to what extent social media is behind the rising mental health issues among teenagers and whether it is the primary cause. "It seems to be the case — like it's a big factor," says MIT's Alexey Makarin, "but that's still up for debate."
Still, though, other specifics are beginning to crystallize. Scientists are narrowing in on what aspects of social media are most problematic. And they can see that social media won't hurt every teen — or hurt them by the same amount. The data suggests that the more hours a child devotes to social media, the higher their risk for mental health problems.
Finally, some adolescents are likely more vulnerable to social media, and children may be more vulnerable at particular ages. A study published in February 2022 looked to see how time spent on social media varies with life satisfaction during different times in a child's life (see the graphic).
The researchers also looked to see if a child's present use of social media predicted a decrease of life satisfaction one year later. That data suggests two windows of time when children are most sensitive to detrimental effects of social media, especially heavy use of it. For girls, one window occurs at ages 11 through 13. And for boys, one window occurs at ages 14 and 15. For both genders, there's a window of sensitivity around age 19 — or near the time teenagers enter college. Amy Orben and her team at the University of Cambridge reported the findings in Nature Communications .
This type of evidence is known as a correlative. "It's hard to draw conclusions from these studies," Gentzkow says, because many factors contribute to life satisfaction, such as environmental factors and family backgrounds. Plus, people may use social media because they're depressed (and so depression could be the cause, not the outcome of social media use).
"Nevertheless, these correlative studies, together with the evidence from the causal experiments, paint a picture that suggests we should take social media seriously and be concerned," Gentzkow adds.
Psychologist Orben once heard a metaphor that may help parents understand how to approach this new technology. Social media for children is a bit like the ocean, she says, noting that it can be an extremely dangerous place for children. Before parents let children swim in any open water, they make sure the child is well-prepared and equipped to handle problems that arise. They provide safety vests, swimming lessons, often in less dangerous waters, and even then parents provide a huge amount of supervision.
Alyson Hurt created the graphic. Jane Greenhalgh and Diane Webber edited the story.
- mental health
- smartphones
- social media
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Take a look at the social media crisis Domino's Pizza faced back in 2009, and the successes and failures you can take away from it. Melissa Agnes - Crisis Management Keynote Speaker ... Subscribe to receive emails with all my latest tips, strategies and case studies to help you turn today's real-time challenges into a winning crisis management ...
Emerging crisis - If you don't anticipate and deal with it as soon as possible, it can quickly escalate into a bigger scandal. Industry crisis - occurs when a vendor or competitor is experiencing a social media crisis. For example, when many fashion brands are suddenly all attacked for non-transparent actions.
The unfolding of the COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated how the spread of misinformation, amplified on social media and other digital platforms, is proving to be as much a threat to global public health as the virus itself. Technology advancements and social media create opportunities to keep people safe, informed and connected.
It takes a lot to destroy a consumer-facing brand of 70 years. Though this scandal has already had enormous impact on Volkswagen's share price (down from 165ish to 106 when the story broke) and big fines and loss of sales are to be expected, social media can perhaps add some perspective. Looking at Facebook comments in particular, there are ...
Studies on social media crisis communication describe sense-making as a collective process or even collective work ... Sensemaking in social media crisis communication - A case study on the Brussels bombings in 2016. In: Proceedings of the 25th European conference on information systems, Guimarães, 12-15 June 2016, pp. 2169-2186. ECIS.
Free Crisis Management Case Studies. It seems as though each week we watch as another organization faces - and attempts to manage - some form of issue or crisis. And with each new incident, there are always great lessons and takeaways that can be applied to strengthen your own organization's crisis preparedness. This page is dedicated to ...
Social media crisis management is a strategy used to mitigate damage from a negative message shared widely about a brand on social networks. Think about a public explanation or apology posted by a CEO when someone surfaces a problem. That action is part of the brand's social media crisis strategy. Source: Kris Rasmussen.
Let's review some crisis communication social media case studies to see how real brands and organizations are using social tools during difficult times. Example 1: Government of British Columbia The Government of British Columbia uses its Instagram account to share information about emergencies in the province, both as they happen and when ...
Social Media Crisis #1: Nike and Zion Williamson. On the 20th of February, Zion Williamson, a star player from Duke University, suffered a knee injury when a malfunctioning Nike shoe fell apart. This accident happened less than a minute into a highly-anticipated game against North Carolina. Media outlets and social media users quickly began ...
This type of study is called a quasi-experiment, and it allows scientists to estimate how much social media actually changes teens' mental health, or as Makarin says, "We can get causal estimates ...
Contagious crisis (also known as spillover crisis) is a crisis related to one organization that may cause concern, uncertainty, or perceptions of harm to another organization (Veil et al., 2016).If an organization is similar to others in terms of country of origin, industry, organizational type, and positioning strategy, it will be easily influenced by other organizations (Laufer & Wang, 2018).
1 Introduction. Defined as 'a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0' (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010, p. 61), the types of social media such as Wikipedia, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Flickr and Google Plus are ushering in a new era of crisis communication between the organizations and its public(s).
Client. As the retained crisis communications agency for a global industry leader behind several household brands, our specialist social media crisis management enables them to prepare for and respond to the reputational risks of the digital era.. Our Role. Our remote monitoring and listening during one particularly high profile, international crisis, included real-time tracking of relevant ...
This study informs theory and practice by exposing emotional climates on social media that might serve as a decision aid for corporate crisis response. SCCT and the role of emotions (adapted from ...
Preparing for social media crisis communication can even increase the chance of becoming a "hub" in the extensive information flows and reduce the spread of ... Dabner, N. (2012). 'Breaking Ground' in the use of social media: A case study of a university earthquake response to inform educational design with Facebook. The Internet ...
Although a few surveys on the topic of disaster and/or crisis management exist in literature, they mostly focus on some specific domain of administration or management like public health [59], use of social media by public during disasters [30, 61, 106], or case studies related to a particular event ([26, 44]) etc. These papers cover very ...
nce during a crisis. The devel-opment of a crisis management strategy can benefit from both social media monitoring and communications, especially as many stakeholders (e.g. employees, clients, author-ities) might also re. y on those channels. However, many organizations are still not entirely familiar with these tools, especi.
Community resilience following a crisis has become essential to avoid panic. In contrast, social media usage has been practical to improve public resilience. However, the impacts of social media crisis response and social interaction have not been fully addressed. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the effects of social media crisis communication on public resilience. The study data ...