Fixing the SIC: Preventing and Managing Self-Inflicted Crises

Introduction

It is an unfortunate truth that the internet can be a dark, dangerous place. Some of the worst aspects of humanity thrive in the fetid currents of deviance that flow unimpeded online. Yet, at the same time, the world of the internet can be a rich, wondrous place. Over the past few years, there have developed heart-warming stories, hope-inspiring anecdotes, and memes and GIFs to make even the most cold-hearted curmudgeon crack a grin. The same internet that gave us Gamergate (Valenti, 2017), an internet movement of predominantly white men attempting to force female developers out of the world of video games, also gave us Lachlan Lever, the seven-week old baby boy with moderate-to-severe hearing loss who smiled when he heard his parents’ voices for the first time (Waxman, 2014). It is in the capacity for viral growth of a story, concept, or movement, that we see the incredible power of the internet – both for heartwarming stories and for digital disaster.

A compelling example of both the positive and the negative potential for the internet to shape a conversation is the “Accidentally social viral 4x” Ben Tobias (https://twitter.com/GPDBenTobias), public information officer for the Gainesville, Florida police department. On the negative side, Tobias’s department became known for the “Hot Cop” incident following Hurricane Irma. Gainesville police were helping residents following the storm, and a selfie of three officers went viral with messages ranging from, “Do a calendar fundraiser!” to marriage propositions, and even some salacious suggestions from Facebook users (O’Kane, 2017). What seemed like excellent publicity for the Gainesville police turned sour when Facebook users found one of the three officers posting racist, anti-Semitic content on his personal Facebook page (Twedt, 2017). Tobias had to quickly respond and manage what had become a social media crisis. The officer was suspended, and the potential benefit to the community was tarnished by the officer’s comments.

In contrast to the “Hot Cop” incident, Tobias also had a video become a viral hit following a noise complaint. In an era when viral police videos conjure images of Walter Scott in North Charleston (Blinder, 2017) and Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge (Berman & Lowery, 2018), the Gainesville video came as a breath of fresh air. An officer who responded to the noise complaint found a group of children playing basketball outside of their home. Rather than shutting down the game or offering a warning or citation, the officer joined the game (Shortell, 2016). The video, posted to the Gainesville police Facebook page, rapidly went viral and became a spotlight of positive police interaction in a community at a time when such interactions seemed rare. While Tobias’s viral messages are anomalous for a single individual (who is not already a super-star celebrity), they are representative of the power and potential impact of digital content in the modern era.

Considering the potential for the viral spread of digital messages, no one who has used social media in the past few years will be surprised that individuals and organizations regularly place themselves in self-inflicted crises (SIC). Since the first piece looking at this phenomenon was published (Pyle, 2016), there have been numerous instances of the SIC phenomenon. This chapter explores some of those cases and offers practical implications for scholars and practitioners. The chapter consists of three parts. First, the author reviews relevant literature. Next, the author conducts a comparative case study of four distinct self-inflicted crises: the Dove ad featuring a color-changing woman (Slawson, 2017); the cascading crisis of Urban Outfitters’ apparent art theft (BBC News, 2018); the 2017 Pepsi commercial in the style of a Black Lives Matter march (Victor, 2017); and lastly a re-examination of the 2014 DiGiorno “#WhyIStayed” crisis (Griner, 2014). Finally, the author presents a set of lessons learned from the case studies, as well as principles to inform organizational communication for organizations facing SIC.