How to Handle
Negative Viral Social Media
Kaitlin Keeler
Digital Editorial Manager
Oakland County, MI Government
@KaitlinKeeler @OakGov

Oakland County, MI Government
• County Northwest of
Detroit, MI
• One of the largest in
the country with 1.8
Million residents
• The County has 62
CVTs and 82
Departments

Agenda
• What is Negative Viral Social Media?
• Social Media Crisis Plan
• Best Practices & SOPs
• Real Life Case Studies
• Q&A

What is Negative Viral Social
Media?
ANY NEGATIVE OR CRITICAL NEWS STORIES THAT
GOES VIRAL IN THE DIGITAL SPACE

How does something go Viral?
• A Post, Story, Topic that peaks the interest of a wide
and vast audience that feels strongly enough to
engage and share it with their networks.
• A viral post is something that has been shared and
spread across all social platforms and has generated a
great deal of engagement
• A viral topic is when multiple stories about a single
topic are shared, copied, and spread across all digital
media channels with a high level of engagement.

Negative Viral Social Media

Negative Viral Social Media

Negative Viral Social Media

Lifespan of Viral Content
• Average social media posts have a lifespan of minutes
to hours, or a day at the most
• Tweet = 18 minutes
• Facebook Post = 75% of engagement will be
reached in 5 hours
• Viral posts have a lifespan of weeks
• Some topics can spur a longer lasting conversation

Lifespan of Viral Content
TIME
DIGITAL
REACH
Average Content
Viral Content

Managing Negative Viral Social Media
• Why?
• Be proactive not just reactive
• Identify key issues for citizens & areas for improved
customer service
• Protect the brand, be the source of accurate
information, trusted news source
• Facilitate conversations around the topic,
encourage participation
• Freedom of Speech & Censorship

Managing Negative Viral Social Media
• How?
• Communication
• Monitoring
• Training
• Social Media Policy
• Social Media Crisis Plan

Social Media Crisis Plan
PLAN TO IDENTIFY, ESCALATE, MODERATE,
COMMUNICATE, AND DOCUMENT NEGATIVE VIRAL
SOCIAL MEDIA

Social Media Crisis Plan
• Formal Process to identify (potential) viral posts and
manage any social media backlash
• Identify key team members and resources, chain of
command, communication channels, tools, etc.
• Build off your Social Media Policy

Social Media Crisis Plan
1. Identification
2. Escalation
3. Moderation Plan
4. Communication
5. Documentation

Social Media Crisis Plan - 1. Identification
• Determine:
• Keywords need to be
monitored for your Agency
• How to search for these
keywords and setup any
tools as necessary
• Frequency of searches
• Who will be performing
these tasks

Social Media Crisis Plan - 1. Identification
• Determine:
• What additional information
sources to monitor: local,
regional, national,
international news, trending
topics, pop culture, etc.
• What to do when you
identify a viral or potential
viral post….

Social Media Crisis Plan - 2. Escalation
• Determine the types of search
results that need to be escalated:
• Critical, negative, vulgar,
threatening, accusatory
• Stories posted to a channel
with wide audience
• Regional or National stories
that could impact your area
• Anything already trending

SMM and Supervisor Need to Determine: Can we
handle this in the Social Media team or does it need
to be escalated:
• What is the impact of our agency or constituents?
• Is this a customer service opportunity?
• Does this require a response? Can it be deleted or
hidden?
• Is this a troll?
Social Media Crisis Plan - 2. Escalation

Social Media Crisis Plan - 2. Escalation
SMM and Supervisor Need to Determine: Can we
handle this in the Social Media team or does it need
to be escalated:
• Is there a concern of public or employee safety?
• Has it already been picked up by the news? Is it
something we think they would pick up tonight?
• Is this a story that could go viral? Is it already?

Social Media Crisis Plan - 2. Escalation
Key Times to Escalate:
• The story will/could have
significant impact on your
agency or constituents
• Requires immediate attention
or a response from your agency
• Has the potential to make the
news
• Will or already is viral

Social Media Crisis Plan - 2. Escalation
Who to escalate to:
• Your Department’s leadership team
• The PIO or highest PR/Communications professional at
your agency
• If the story is about a Department different than your
own:
• Head of Department
• Social Media Team
• Police and Public Safety if necessary

Social Media Crisis Plan – 3. Moderation Plan
Create a Plan for Monitoring,
Moderation, and Posting during
Social Media Crisis:
Monitoring:
• Who will continue monitor
& frequency, get approvals
for overtime
• Specific posts or channels
to monitor

Social Media Crisis Plan – 3. Moderation Plan
Moderating:
• How/when to respond or
not respond
• Delete/Report anything
against community
guidelines
• Types of posts to escalate

Posting:
• Official Statement
• What is your most recent
posts?
• Continue posting or go
silent?
• Create content to address
issue
• Create off-topic content
Social Media Crisis Plan – 3. Moderation Plan

Social Media Crisis Plan - 4. Communication
Communication is KEY:
• Keep communication
open while Social Media
Crisis is still Viral
• Arrange after hours
communications
• Give frequent updates

Social Media Crisis Plan - 4. Communication
Communicate to the PIO & Departments:
What is the story about, how large is it’s
reach and impact. Include links and
screen shots.
• Ask: Is their an official
agency/department response? Will
there be? When?
• Anything else pertinent?
• How often do they want updates?

Social Media Crisis Plan - 4. Communication
Communicate to the Social Media Teams:
• Here to help manage the social media
backlash
• Share the Social Media Crisis Plan
• Social Media Policy, Do’s and Don’ts such
as deleting, responding, documenting,
employee use of social media, etc.
• Ask: Anything specific they need help
with now?

Social Media Crisis Plan - 5. Documentation
What to Document:
• Screenshots of individual posts, unique URLs of posts
• Screen shots of Trending Topics
• News/Blog Articles related to the story
• Who has shared? Major Pages, News Sources, etc. and
what is their reach and engagement?
• Analytics of your own posts, and any you can pull from
the other public posts
• Any particularly salacious responses

Social Media Crisis Plan - 5. Documentation
How to Report:
• Create a high-level spreadsheet
or report for leadership with
screenshots, links, and analytics
• Daily Recaps during initial viral
outbreak
• Weekly updates following
• Monthly updates if needed

Social Media Crisis Plan - 5. Documentation
What to Report:
• Increases in viral-ity
• Screenshots
• Analytics
• New articles
• Posts needing a response
• Any threats
• Specific Requests from
Leadership

Social Media Crisis Plan
1. Identification
2. Escalation
3. Moderation Plan
4. Communication
5. Documentation
6. REPEAT AS NESSECARY

Best Practices & SOPs
MANAGING NEGATIVE VIRAL SOCIAL MEDIA

Best Practices & SOPs
• Be Proactive not just Reactive with:
Advanced Search and Monitoring
Post Deletion & Retention Disclaimer
Platform Tools - Reporting, Hiding, Deleting, Banning
Training
Escalation Contact List

Best Practices & SOPs
• Advanced Search & Monitoring:
• Google Alerts for your agency, elected officials, and
any hot topics
• Save Searches on Twitter for quick & easy
monitoring
• Facebook Graph Search
• Create Keyword Streams in Hootsuite or other
social media management tools

Twitter Saved Searches

Facebook Graph Search

Hootsuite Streams

Post Deletion & Retention Disclaimer
• Work with Legal team to create
a disclaimer about removing
posts & comments.
• Post publicly, in Facebook
Notes or About, on Website,
etc.
• Oakland County Example

Oakland County Post Deletion & Retention Disclaimer
“The County reserves the right to remove inappropriate
comments including those that are discriminatory, obscene or
sexual in nature, threaten or defame an individual or entity,
support or oppose political candidates or proposals, violate the
intellectual property rights of another party, promote illegal
activity or commercial products or services or are not related
to the topic in the original posting. Keep in mind that all of
your posted comments are public records and subject to
disclosure. Requests for public records may be submitted to
corpcounsel@oakgov.com.”

Platform Tools to Report, Hide, and Ban
• If the comment/post also goes against the Platform rules,
community standards, guidelines etc. use their built in
Report features, but document the post before it’s removed
• Hiding comments vs. deleting vs. banning
• Hiding-the user and their friends will still see their
comment, but the public and your Page audience wont
• Deleting- no one can see the post anymore
• Banning/Blocking- bans the user from posting on/to your
Page/Twitter

Training
• Ensure that each team member knows their role and is
trained in:
• Social Media Crisis Plan
1. Identification- what to look for, how to monitor
and frequency
2. Escalation – who internally to report to and when
3. Moderating- how/when to respond, hide/delete,
report
4. Communication– contact list, communication
expectations
5. Documentation – What to document and how to
report

Training
• Ensure all employees receive and understand Social Media
Policy in regards to personal social media use
• Empower entire team to always be on the lookout for your
agency in the news

Escalation Contact List
• Create an Escalation Contact List of who to call and when.
Ensure that a back up and supervisor have access.
1. Immediate Supervisor and Department’s Leadership Team
2. PIO or other highest PR/Communications representative
3. Department and Elected Official Point of Contacts
4. Police Liaison
5. All other Social Media Managers in your Agency
6. Broadcast message to all employees

Negative Viral Social Media
REAL LIFE CASE STUDIES

Flint Water Crisis
IMPACT OF REGIONAL ISSUES

Flint Water Crisis

Flint Water Crisis

Flint Water Crisis

Flint Water Crisis – Key Take Aways
• Educate Oakland County citizens that their water is safe
• County Executive, miss-quoted saying that it was a “Hoax”
• Anonymous Hacker Group declares War
• State of Michigan, Flint Government, and Hospital all
attacked
• Oakland County CISO escalated to FBI to monitor Dark Web,
was not breached
• Social Media monitoring & Google Alerts set for
Government Officials tied to Flint Water Crisis

Judge Gorcya & Tsimhoni Case
KIDS SENT TO JUVIE FOR NOT HAVING LUNCH
WITH DAD

Judge Gorcya & Tsimhoni Case

Judge Gorcya & Tshimoni Case

Judge Gorcya & Tsimhoni Case

Judge Gorcya & Tsimhoni Case - Key
Takeaways
• Trended Instantly & World-Wide Coverage within 24 hours
• People were upset, started posting to our accounts
• Went silent on County Channels for the weekend
• The next week we started to clean up any comments that
violated our Post Disclaimer and Social Media Policy
• Still monitoring and reporting and a monthly basis

The Daily Show
AMERICA’S VOTING MACHINES ARE F**KED

The Daily Show - America’s Voting
Machines are F**ked

The Daily Show - America’s Voting
Machines are F**ked
• On 11/9/15, The Daily Showed aired a segment, America’s
Voting Machines are F**ked, featuring an interview at
Oakland County with our Director of Elections.
• Escalated to CIO, who reached out to the Clerks’ Office
• Monitored each online iteration and promotion of the
video segment
• Monitored for Citizen’s reaction to the segment
• Monthly reporting (Election Year)

The Daily Show - America’s Voting
Machines are F**ked
The video has been turned into 9 pieces of Public Content across the web by Comedy Central:
• The Comedy Central Website
• Full Length video of the entire episode:
• America’s Voting Machines are F**ked Segment
• Comedy Central YouTube Channel – 4.6 Million Subscribers
• Full Segment:
• :60 Second Episode recap:
• Weekly Recap:
• Daily Show Facebook – 5 Million Likes
• Ronny Chieng’s Facebook – 11 Thousand Likes
• The Daily Show Twitter – 4 Million Followers
• Ronny Chieng’s Twitter – 15 Thousand Followers

The Daily Show Episode on 11/9/15, featuring a segment "America's Voting Machines are F**cked"
11/16/2015 12/1/2015 1/12/2016 Analysis & Notes
Content 9 9 9
2 Videos on Comedy Central's Website
3 YouTube videos on Comedy Central's website
2 Facebook Posts by The Daily Show & The Interviewer
2 Twitter Posts by The Daily Show and the Interviewer
Audience 13,603,730 13,663,181 13,951,120
Audience includes all the people that Subscribe to, Follow, or Like the accounts that the video was posted to. It does not include the actual reach or
impressions of those accounts. The actual number of people that were served the video in their various feeds may be higher or lower, assuming not every
audience member saw the videos and that an infinite number of friends-or-friends could have seen the videos based on their friends in the audience’s
interactions with the video.
Video Views 376,935 649,017 797,647
Video views are higher than expected for a viral piece of content, but this could be due to the Auto-Play features on YouTube, Comedy Central, and
Facebook.
Likes 4,483 6,073 7,205 Likes increased proportionately with Views
Dislikes 34 503 115 HUGE drop in dislikes due to YouTube, meaning hundreds of accounts had to unclick the dislike button or were deactivated.
Comments 173 693 906
Comments increased at a comparable rate to dislikes because people that disliked the video are more likely to leave negative comments-this was observed
in the form of critiques on the interviewer
Social Shares 748 801 808
Social shares seems to have plateaued compared to views, leading me to believe that most views are happening in YouTube and on Comedy Central's
website
The Daily Show - America’s Voting
Machines are F**ked

Humans of New York
SYRIAN REFUGEE FEATURE

HONY Syrian Refugee Feature
• HONY posted a 7-part photo series about a Syrian
Refugee, recapping his struggles, loss, and hopes as
he just found out he was approved to come to the
United States.
• Captured the world’s attention, one of HONY’s most
viral stories was picked up by the media across the
world.
• The President of the United States even commented
on the last post, and then invited him to his State of
the Union

HONY Syrian Refugee Feature
• Michigan's Rick Snyder was the first governor to urge a
pause in admitting Syrian refugees into the United States
• Oakland County Executive, Brooks Patterson Demands
Pontiac Not Accept Syrian Refugees
• “Any program such as the acceptance of refugees from
Syria under current conditions constitutes an immediate
threat of imminent danger,” “I am not overreacting to
the tragedy that befell Paris. I am pointing out that lax
immigration policies contributed to this terror.”

HONY Syrian Refugee Feature- Key Take Aways
• Monitor World News & Pop Culture for ties to your agency
• County could not interact with this story in any way
• Extra monitoring was performed for comments, posts, other
news stories that would connect the HONY story to Brooks’
statement
• The HONY story got so large that we couldn’t keep up with
the monitoring, so we reverted back to just watching for
people posting directly to us
• Little to no backlash was received on the County channels

Animal Control Returns a
Puppy to Abuser
AND POSTED ABOUT IT ON SOCIAL MEDIA…

Animal Control Returns a Puppy to
Abuser

Animal Control Returns a Puppy to Abuser
• Oakland County Animal Control and Pet Adoption
Center (OCACPA) removed a puppy from inadequate
shelter. Animal Control saw no other signs of abuse or
malnourishment.
• The next day when the legal owner returned to pick
up the puppy, he was told what adequate shelter was,
and that Animal Control would be pursuing charges.
We had no legal rights to hold the puppy any longer.

Animal Control Returns a Puppy to Abuser
• OCACPA usually posts “Happy Tails” and reunited stories for
lost and adopted animals, not animals returned in situations
like this. However, there was a miscommunication with the
social media staff, and the “Reunion” was posted anyways.
• The post went viral, receiving national attention from people
and news media. Including an Animal Rights group that was
THERE when the puppy was originally picked up by OCACPA
and took and posted photos of the conditions. They even
organized a presentation at the upcoming Board of
Commissioners' meeting.

Animal Control Returns a Puppy to Abuser –
Key Takeaways
• OCACPA issued statements, gave interviews, and address
some inquiries directly about the fact that they had no
legal rights to hold the puppy.
• The Facebook post received so much negative attention,
that they removed it-but they retained a screen capture
of the post and digital copy of all the comments.
• They did not post for the upcoming weekend because
each post received negative comments about the Puppy.

Animal Control Returns a Puppy to Abuser
Happy Ending for Puppy Louise, as
the owner surrendered her to a
Rescue where she was adopted by a
loving family!

How to Handle
Negative Viral Social Media
Kaitlin Keeler
Digital Editorial Manager
Oakland County, MI Government
@KaitlinKeeler @OakGov

QUESTIONS?
Please provide session feedback via the conference mobile app.