X Formerly Twitter Crisis Communication

CRISIS COMMUNICATION

Crisis Communication at X (Formerly Twitter)

The organization whose crisis communication strategy will be evaluated is X, formerly Twitter. Since the ownership of the social media company changed hands, the said organization has experienced a number of challenges in as far as organizational communication is concerned. Elon Musk took over the company one year ago and initiated a number of changes in a bid to make the now private company even more competitive in an increasingly competitive business environment. It could be argued that lack of a coherent corporate communication strategy at X has in some cases appeared to hurt the company’s interests – especially whenever the company finds itself in the middle of a crisis of some kind.

A number of companies have over the past few months terminated their advertising relationship with X, making the company lose out on this key revenue stream. These companies are inclusive of, but they are not limited to Coca Cola, Apple, Disney, etc. The said boycott was triggered by a wide range of factors including the new policies embraced by the social media company, Musk’s occasional unfiltered outbursts, etc. In a recent response to advertiser boycotts, Elon Musk used derogatory terms in reference to the said advertisers – specifically telling them, “go f--- yourself, is that clear? ...don’t advertise” (Picchi, 2023). This could be deemed a crisis owing to the fact that it made a bad situation worse and could compromise a key revenue stream.

There are those who laud Musk’s bold nature and unfiltered way of articulating and communicating organizational policy, especially whenever organizations he runs face upheavals of some kind. Some like Isaacson (2023) argue that this earns Musk (and X by extension) a fanatical base of followers and gives the said company a slight edge in an increasingly competitive space. However, others like Taylor (2023) are convinced that lack of a poorly thought out and incoherent communication strategy in times of crisis could cost X in the long term. It is for this reason that X needs to adapt its approach in as far as crisis communication is concerned and invest in what Taylor (2023) refers to as “a more robust communication plan.”