Online crises: How to be proactive, not reactive
Just like any other emergency, a social media crisis is best handled if you’ve done a little prep work.
Chris Sims, a social media expert and author of Crisis Management for Authors, posted some disaster-planning advice on Jane Friedman’s blog yesterday.
Her approach is two-pronged:
1. Build a core group of supporters before a crisis occurs.
The following you’ve already built can rise to your defense when needed, either averting or cutting short any online storms.
2. Lay the groundwork for prevention.
Sims goes into this further in the full post, but in a nutshell, she urges you to have a posting policy, to monitor all accounts regularly, and to familiarize yourself with all the safety tools that social media networks provide.
And, of course, keep your nose clean.