Social Media Commons^™

Negotiating Crisis In The New Media Environment: Evolution Of Crises Online, Gaining Legitimacy Offline, Augustine Pang, Nasrath Begam Abul Hassan, Aaron Chee Yang Chong

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This study examines how crises originate online, how different new media platforms escalate crises, and how issues become legitimized offline when they transit onto mainstream media. We study five social media crises, which includes United breaks guitars and Southwest Air’s too fat to fly. Crises are triggered online when stakeholders are empowered by new media platforms that allow user-generated content to be posted online without any filtering. Facebook, YouTube and Twitter emerge as top crises breeding grounds due to their large user base and the lack of gatekeeping. Facebook and blogs are responsible for escalating crises beyond the immediate stakeholder …