What amounts to a paracrisis? Interactivity as a lens for evaluating social media‐propagated crises

In: Journal of contingencies and crisis management, Volume 30, Issue 2, p. 204-216

Abstract

AbstractThe tendency for crises to erupt on social media raises the question: How can strategic communication professionals determine the likelihood that these social media‐borne warning signs of an impending crisis (often referred to as a paracrisis) will impact the organization? This study evaluated paracrisis through a semantic network analysis of two cases of claims of racism against two brands, Prada and Gucci. Using interactivity as the lens for evaluating social media claims against an organization revealed paracrisis characteristics, including referencing activities, social tagging and calls for action against corporate misconduct.