'Managing Social media is one of the important facets of present Brands' Discuss the statement quoting live incident(s) and as a Company Secretary suggest briefly, the ways for managing such crisis.

The United Airlines PR Crisis The conflict occurred in United Airlines flight number 3411, which departed from Chicago to Louisville on April 9, 2017. Before passengers began boarding, it was announced that the flight was overbooked. United needed to put their employees on this plane. So, they asked for volunteers to give up their seats in exchange for $400 US, a free hotel room and a ticket for a flight the next day. No one volunteered. When boarding was complete, it was announced that four passengers had to leave the plane. Again, no one volunteered, so the company decided to choose passengers randomly. Two of the passengers left, and one refused. The one who remained said that he was a doctor and needed to get to his patients. When he refused to leave the plane, he was forcefully dragged from his seat and was struck in the process. The crisis started when a cell phone video recording of the incident was published on social media. How the crisis was managed? When United realized that they couldn't get out of the scandal, the CEO Oscar Munoz commented on the situation. He apologized for having to re-accommodate" the customer. The statement of CEO Oscar Munoz is as under: "This is an upsetting event to all of us here at United. I apologize for having to re-accommodate these customers. Our team is moving with a sense of urgency to work with the authorities and conduct our own detailed review of what happened. "We are also reaching out to this passenger to talk directly to him and further address and resolve this situation." This statement provoked a new wave of crisis. United's social media audience accused him of being disrespectful and of misidentifying the cause of the problem. Instead of apologizing for forcing the passenger to deplane, Munoz apologized for his inconvenience. The company's social media audience was indignant. They satirized the situation, created memes and GIFs, and made jokes. What's more, United lost more than $800 Million in revenue. United wasn't able to manage the crisis by themselves, and they had to hire a professional crisis management team. Takeaway from the Case In United's case, the CEO apologized, but his words caused even more indignation than before. Why was that? The instance that occurred on the plane was quite traumatic to those that witnessed it personally and those that saw it on video. It deserved a heartfelt response, but the tweet showed a lack of understanding and accountability. In United's case, the CEO's apology sounded as if he didn't actually care, and their audience immediately felt it. Suggestion for managing Social media Online apologies have to be carefully crafted. Think of the emotions that need to be addressed and consider your words carefully - "how could this be offensive"? An apology should not sound like a press-release. When a brand makes a mistake they need to own up to it and let the public know that they are going to address it and ensure it never happens again.