Document Type

Article

Publication Date

Spring 2018

Abstract

This original pedagogical research describes an assignment integrated in an undergraduate crisis communication course and shares its findings. Stewart and Wilson (2016) introduced a model, STREMII (pronounced STREAM-ee), as a way to assist organizations with crisis communication via social media during a crisis event. STREMII represents a cyclical process of six interconnected elements that organizations engage in when communicating with publics: (1) social listening, (2) target audience, (3) response, (4) monitoring and evaluating, (5) interacting, and (6) implementing changes. The authors developed this model by analyzing the social media activity surrounding Hurricane Sandy in conjunction with the Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT) and crisis phases (Coombs, 2007; 2014; Stewart and Wilson, 2016). While this is a viable framework for understanding how organizations communicate with publics via social media during a natural disaster, its effectiveness needs to be expanded within different types of crises, and tested and evaluated in practical and pedagogical contexts. Stewart and Young (2016) created this assignment for students to (a) assess an organization’s social media strategies before, during, and after an organizational crisis, (b) apply the model within a variety of crisis contexts, and (c) understand the model as implemented within a crisis communication course, yielding several outcomes related to both learning, practice, and future development of the STREMII model.

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Published in The Florida Communication Journal Volume 46, No 1, Spring 2018

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