The Cincinnati Zoo has suffered a lot of backlash, online harassment and even a Twitter hack ever since the tragic incident of the fatal shooting of Harambe, the Gorilla, back in May of this year. After months of being subjected to this online abuse, the zoo has decided to shut down their social media accounts.
Was this the right crisis management decision or will it potentially have even more damaging effects on the brand? This is precisely the question I answer in this week’s #crisisready video. Have a watch!
What do you think about the Cincinnati Zoo’s decision?
Comment below or use the hashtag #crisisready on Twitter and let’s continue this conversation!
Author of Crisis Ready: Building an Invincible Brand in an Uncertain World, Melissa Agnes is a leading authority on crisis preparedness, reputation management, and brand protection. Agnes is a coveted keynote speaker, commentator, and advisor to some of today’s leading organizations faced with the greatest risks. Learn more about Melissa and her work here.
This is the first time I am being introduced to Ms. Agnes and I am taking a look at the videos. I still do not think that they should have closed the accounts, they should have continued to share info about the events at the zoo, hold charitable and other fun events at the zoo to encourage persons to build that lost trust….have campaigns for safety at the zoo…..just continue to try to be positive in that crisis.
Hi Asha,
Thanks for sharing your perspective – and welcome to the blog and videos!
Based on what I understand of the bullying and harassment that the Cincinnati Zoo has undergone over the last few months, I’d have to disagree with you. They tried for months to continue to share positively on social media and each attempt was met with dozens to hundreds of harassing comments, mockery, hacking of their Twitter account, etc. As I mentioned in the video, we have to look at who this is serving and who it’s impacting – and the big picture of that impact.
However, I’m also not saying that they should back away from social media forever. This would not serve them in the long-run either. But I do believe that, in this rare case, they should let the issue die down and then come back and reinstate their accounts.
Well hopefully they will return to social media in the future.