A Theoretical Framework for Carrying on Dialogue With Social Media Stakeholders During Crisis Situations

Crisis communication research has been increasingly concerned with the relevance of web 2.0-based tools to monitor social media conversations and respond to critical events. Nevertheless, very little is known on which dialogue strategies companies can handle to support organizational objectives in crisis situations. The aim of this paper is to develop a theoretical framework, grounded in managerial and organizational theories, through which organizations can take decisions in relation to the most appropriate crisis response strategies for handling social media stakeholder by using a dialogic perspective. This study employs rhetorical analysis of different web contents published in Facebook, Twitter and YouTube by eight international organizations. Considering dialogue as a managerial process allows crisis communicators to manage appropriately its value, goals and components according to organizational settings in which dialogue takes place.