Blog Post 2: Crisis Management through Social Media

Social media is a key tool used by public relations professionals when managing a crisis. Many people use these platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter to consume most of their news, even though it may not be as reliable as traditional news channels. Social media is a way for public relations professionals to quickly and effectively communicate necessary information to large audiences, which makes it essential for crisis management. Chatter on social media can also clue us in to potential developing crisis situations, meaning that with the right monitoring in place, issues can be resolved more quickly. If social media chatter is ignored, though, large audiences on social media will notice, and it is not a good look for the brand.

In 2019, SZA tweeted about her experience at a Sephora store, where an employee accused her of stealing. Fans were quick to come to her defense and accuse the store of racial profiling. Sephora enacted a timely and effective crisis management response, apologizing on Twitter to SZA and promising to address the situation. A short time later, Sephora closed all of its stores for a day to conduct diversity training for its employees. This is a great example of what a brand should do to manage a crisis with social media. This situation could have played out very differently if Sephora had decided not to address SZA on Twitter or take any steps to prevent this from happening in any of their stores in the future.