COM 657 9-2 Short Paper
Anecdotally speaking, those over the age of thirty employed in a corporate environment remember the days of being subjected to the strictest social media usage policies at work. One employer demanded that the author of this paper and her colleagues never make use of the company name in any personal social media activity, nor was the posting of photos from company events (social gatherings, team-building exercises and the like) permitted. This general policy largely seems now to have changed. As the relationship between employer and employee is not a narrow, static construct, but is one molded by, among other things, market trends and emerging technologies (Berkley & Watson, 2009). Organizations now seem to have been compelled to switch their earlier, rigid stance in favor of more generous social media and blogging policies in an attempt to seem more open and transparent (Coombs & Holladay, 2010).
Companies are increasing making use of ingratiating, bolstering and inoculation strategies in their crisis communication planning (Coombs & Holladay, 2010). In order to communicate these effectively with their audience, these same companies are turning in various forms of media on social media platforms. Two brands come to mind who are doing this exceptionally well.
Southwest Airlines has something of a pedigree when it comes to social media engagement with its audience, both internal and external. The types of media used are both varied and prolific. Consider the Southwest “community” website (https://www.southwestaircommunity.com/): this is an open forum that does not require moderator approval to post. Anyone can join the community and post and respond (those that are not registered members can browse and read messages, but not post) (Help – The Southwest Airlines Community, n.d.), and general members are encouraged to post even their “toughest” questions (Section Community Basics). There are a number of staff responses and featured posts scattered throughout the forum, along with officially approved solutions to member queries. The topics range from member annoyances to examples—celebrations—of employee activity that forms a part of Southwest’s corporate social responsibility philosophy.
Along with the forum, Southwest also publishes a number of blogs written by its own employees (https://www.southwestaircommunity.com/t5/Southwest-Stories/bg-p/stories). These articles (heavily laden with photos) include many examples of positive employee experiences as bolstering strategy: in the pre-crisis stage, Southwest is attempting to ingratiate itself with its employees as well as its customers, and reminding stakeholders of past good deeds (Coombs & Holladay, 2010). Southwest’s Media page is also full of professionally crafted video and PR articles, highlighting both airline activities and Southwest’s considerable charity involvement even beyond the strict scope of flying: Southwest wants to be remembered in all spheres of engagement as not only a conscientious airline but also a responsible corporate citizen and almost life partner. As the VP of Communications and Strategy Outreach, Linda Rutherford, explains, Southwest considers itself to be in the “business of life” (Rutherford, 2011).
Ironically—or perhaps very cannily, as this speaks directly to openness and transparency—Southwest’s Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/SouthwestAir/) is very active with both professional posts and genuine employee responses. No attempt has been made to stifle negative posts by customers based on the volume thereof visible on the platform. Both Facebook and Twitter feeds are full of CSR activities as well in the form of video, photos and articles. These comprise a further example of bolstering strategy (Coombs & Holladay, 2010): Southwest likely hopes that acquainting its stakeholders with all the good deeds in which it is involved will help those same stakeholders resist changing their minds—and purchase behaviors—when a crisis occurs.
Along with bolstering strategies, Southwest makes clever use of inoculation strategy (Coombs & Holladay, 2010) with its Social Care division (Kerley, 2017). As a team that proactively monitors all social media channels for customer dissatisfaction in an attempt to—again proactively—mitigate and hopefully resolve the issue for the customer, Southwest engages in proactive bolstering and ingratiating strategies (Coombs & Holladay, 2010). However, this division serves a very important secondary purpose: Social Care is heavily publicized on social media, including videos of Social Care team members featured prominently on the Southwest Facebook page—this is a clear example of inoculation strategy. Southwest openly admits that the airline experience can be fraught with complications and frustration, brings it to the public’s attention, and then clearly demonstrates the steps it takes to mitigate the issues, all in the hopes that its external stakeholders will be rendered more immune to said complications and frustration as a result.
Another brand that successfully uses a number of these strategies is Brad Panovich, a Charlotte (NC)-area meteorologist. Panovich is a self-proclaimed “weather scientist” and currently works at the WCNC television station (Brad Panovich, 2018), and heaves into view most prominently when there is an impending weather crisis in the Carolinas. When a weather crisis is not pending, Panovich posts articles and videos on information relating to weather but not specifically about current weather: his Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/wxbradWCNC/) contains numerous posts about general home weatherproofing, tips on preparation for various kinds of weather, articles on weather history, etc. Like Southwest, he does not seem to moderate or censor his audience’s responses on his Facebook page—while the audience engagement seems overwhelmingly positive (no formal study or analytics have been found while researching this paper), there is still a fair amount of negative comments from frustrated audience members, particularly during weather crises coverage like that of the current Hurricane/Tropical Storm Florence. It is perhaps a measure of the success of Panovich’s use of bolstering strategies (including CSR strategies in the form of posts and video on helpful tips for weather crises in the pre-crisis stage as well as during a crisis) (Coombs & Holladay) that Panovich’s supporters are seen to jump to his defense when such messages are posted. Panovich also successfully uses inoculation strategy as well: he openly comments in both video and posts about the difficulties inherent in predicting the paths of certain types of storms—including hurricanes—and proactively warns his audience that he could very well be wrong in his predictions. He is careful to use non-specific language such as “prediction” rather than “forecast,” and during a weather crisis, releases short videos with reassuring regularity about the state of the crisis, even at various points in the middle of the night. This bolstering strategy combined with inoculation strategy and a non-sensational form of writing and address serves to have at least the author refer to his social media messaging regularly even when a weather crisis is not approaching.
These two brands are solid examples of what more organizations should be doing and including in their crisis communication toolbox to raise awareness of their brand as well as to protect themselves from the negative effects of crises (Coombs & Holladay, 2010). The use of bolstering, CSR, and inoculation strategies has been proven to be effective and easy to use with the advent of ever-more sophisticated social media tools, which give organizations an easy and effective means to build up their “trust bank” in preparation for withdrawals.
References
Berkley, R. A., & Watson, G. (2009). The employer–employee relationship as a building block for ethics and corporate social responsibility. Employee Responsibilities And Rights Journal, 21(4), 275-277. doi:10.1007/s10672-009-9124-4
Brad Panovich. (2018, May 1). Retrieved from https://www.wcnc.com/article/about-us/team-bios/brad-panovich/275-374037315
Coombs, W. T., & Holladay, S. J. (Eds.). (2010). The handbook of crisis communication. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell
Help – The Southwest Airlines Community. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.southwestaircommunity.com/t5/help/faqpage
Kerley, D. (2017, November 21). Inside the hub where Southwest responds to passengers’ complaints. Retrieved December 3, 2017, from Yahoo! News: https://www.yahoo.com/gma/inside-hub-where-southwest-responds-104857511.html
Rutherford, L. (2011, April 15). Championing causes that matter most to communities. National Civic Review, 100(1), 51. Retrieved from https://doi-org.ezproxy.snhu.edu/10.1002/ncr.20051