An employee’s guide to handling a social media crisis

What happens if the company you work for finds itself in a social media crisis, but doesn’t have a social media crisis plan?

What do you do when the situation escalates and you’re still unclear of your role within the crisis? What do you do when you feel unhelpful, confused and frustrated? What if no one has told you the proper way to respond, or you’re not clear about what your team expects of you?

If you find yourself in a similar situation, here are some things you can do to help your company regain control:

You detect a negative situation but aren’t sure if it’s a crisis.

Do some digging and answer the following two questions:

If you answer yes to both questions, it’s fair to assume the company is under a social media attack.

At this point you must bring the situation to upper management’s attention right away. Provide them with all the information and links you can.

Your company is in a social media crisis and no one on your staff is trained to handle it.

If it is a severe crisis, the best move is to call in a social media crisis manager to guide you through the situation.