A Change in the Tides

Anybody who actually knows me understands that my love for marine life - especially marine mammals- is absolutely real. They also know that I love Twitter just as much. About two weeks ago I re-watched the movie Blackfish on Netflix and decided to take to twitter to see other users' responses to the controversial movie that accuses the animal park Sea World of numerous malpractices and analyzes the death of a killer whale handler. While the responses of others who had watched the movie were not any different than my own, I was completely surprised to see that in many cases Sea World had responded to many people "bashing" Sea World's alleged practices with links to the company's websites with information about why Blackfish is propaganda.

Sea World is trying to manage this over two year crisis by informing Twitter users that there is two sides to every story. Using Chapter Nine's Five Stages of Crisis Management in the Digital Age I will analyze Sea World's successes during the ongoing crisis.

1. Prepare in Advance. It is to my knowledge that Sea World was aware of the documentary being filmed, but I don't know if the realized how extensive the damage would be once it was released. Currently Sea World is constantly paying attention to what is being said about their company, especially on Twitter (Sea World currently has ninety thousand followers on the social media site).

2. Isolate the Origin. The crisis itself did not stem from social media, but SeaWorld is currently using traditional and social media to rehabilitate the company's image and boost sales.

3. Evaluate the Impact. The impact of Blackfish's release has been astounding. Sales plummeted after the documentary release and the company was then put under the microscope for their business and animal welfare practices.

4. Mitigate the Crisis. SeaWorld has done a pretty good job at responding to the criticism put forth and providing their side of the story. The company has recently set up a website to answer any questions the public has as well as providing information on their website about their practices and how they disagree with what Blackfish portrayed the company as.

5. Learn from the Crisis. With the countless lawsuits, drop in sales, and overall lack of improvement, SeaWorld still has a long way to go before they can start rebuilding their company, but they are definitely understanding the effects of the release of Blackfish.

(Here is a picture of better times at SeaWorld. Myself, Mom, and Grandpa are pictured)

::::Destiny