Assessing Your Situation

Preventing an escalating, social media crisis is a delicate situation. It calls for a greater degree of delicacy and research than normal day-to-day engagement online. In order to assess the situation, you need to

Understand the conversation surrounding the issue. Look for identifiable themes and people whose content is being shared the most.

Identify which social media channels are affected so you can respond on the same channels.

Research the issue that’s being discussed in case it’s an issue you’ve dealt with before, one for which you have a ready solution.

If you feel like you are dealing with something that continues to escalate as you research and as you begin to take action, you may be dealing with a full-blown crisis. In that case, it’s time to get help. Turn to Chapter 16 for advice on how to turn the situation around as quickly as possible.