1.
1
Crisis Communications and Twitter:
A case study of BP’s response to the Deepwater
Horizon Oil Spill
Veatriki Stefanou
BA Journalism (JMC)
12799295
This dissertation is submitted in partial fulfillment of the BA Journalism, Department of
Media, Art and Design, University of Westminster, London.
May 2013

2.
i
02/05/2013
Crisis Communications and Twitter:
A case study of BP’s response to the Deepwater
Horizon Oil Spill
Veatriki Stefanou, BA Journalism
University of Westminster, v.stefanou@my.westminster.ac.uk
Supervised by: Dr. Anastasia Kavada, Senior Lecturer
University of Westminster, A.Kavada@westminster.ac.uk
I grant powers of discretion to the Department of Media, Art and Design to allow this
dissertation to be copied in whole or in part without any further reference to me. This
permission covers only single copies made for study purposes, subject to the normal
conditions of acknowledgement.

3.
ii
Acknowledgements
I would like to express my sincere appreciation to my supervisor Dr. Anastasia Kavada for
her patient guidance, fruitful and constructive critiques, and her enthusiastic encouragement. I
would also like to acknowledge the information provided by my Crisis Communications
teacher Trish Evans. I am particularly grateful to Mr John Costopoulos, CEO of the Hellenic
Petroleum Group, for the high level of inspiration he provided me with. Finally, I would also
like to extent my sincere thanks and gratitude to the people of the Corporate Affairs
Department of the Hellenic Petroleum for their valuable help and the first rate opportunity
they offered to me by allowing me to work on a real Crisis Communications Management
Strategy regarding the oil industry.
I wish to dedicate this dissertation to my dearest father.

4.
iii
Abstract
Crisis communications is the dialogue between an organization and its public, before, during
and after an event of a crisis (Bennoit, 1995). Recently, social media has had a phenomenal
impact on the field of crisis communications (Gordon, 2013). This dissertation examines
Twitter as an avenue for an organization to reach stakeholders during a crisis occurrence. In
particular, it examines the case of BP’s response after the Oil Spill in Gulf of Mexico, which
was the first crisis that involved social media discussion. However, it is debatable whether BP
managed to use Twitter, in favour of its brand. In the meantime, an anti-BP activist
organization, namely “BP global PR” made its appearance noticeable in the Twitter network.
This dissertation attempted to compare the two Twitter Accounts, by employing a content
analysis method, with aim to seek the most effective techniques of using Twitter during a
crisis. The results that deduced after extensive study of literature and research, was that a
company in order to create an effective presence in Twitter should: act quickly after a crisis;
use informal language, hashtags and multimedia content. Finally, each company should
generate interesting and inspirational tweets.
Keywords: Crisis Communications, Twitter, BP, Oil Spill

5.
iv
Preface
One
year
ago,
“crisis
communications”,
was
a
totally
undiscovered
field
of
knowledge,
to
myself.
Last
summer,
I
worked
as
an
intern
for
the
Hellenic
Petroleum
Group,
the
operator
of
BP
in
Greece.
Part
of
my
responsibilities
was
to
contribute
to
the
development
of
a
comprehensive
crisis
communications
Strategy.
I
was
assigned
to
prepare
a
proposal
for
a
‘dark
site,’
i.e.
a
real
time
online
communication
channel
during
the
management
of
a
crisis.
I
integrated
the
use
of
Twitter
in
my
proposal,
but
my
supervisor
turn
this
down.
She
judged
that
Twitter
was
an
inappropriate
tool
for
crisis
communications.
At
that
time
I
felt
disappointed,
but
I
never
agreed
with
my
supervisor’s
judgment.
After
having
studied
in
depth
the
dynamics
and
potential
of
Twitter,
I
came
to
the
definite
conclusion
that
Twitter
could
be
an
extremely
useful
element
during
a
crisis
occurrence.
My
dissertation
substantiates
this
strong
belief
of
mine,
that
Twitter
is
an
invaluable
communication
platform,
during
managing
a
crisis,
if
of
course
used
appropriately.

6.
v
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................ii
Abstract ............................................................................................................................................ iii
Preface ...............................................................................................................................................iv
List
of
figures ..................................................................................................................................vii
1.
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
2.
REVIEW
OF
LITTERATURE.......................................................................................................4
2.1
Basic
concepts ...........................................................................................................................5
2.1.1
Stakeholders ..........................................................................................................................5
2.1.2
Corporate
Social
Responsibility ......................................................................................5
2.1.3
Web
2.0.....................................................................................................................................6
2.1.4
Twitter......................................................................................................................................7
2.2
Crisis:
Theoretical
Framework............................................................................................8
2.2.1
Definition
of
Crisis................................................................................................................8
2.2.2
Crisis
Management
and
Communications................................................................. 10
2.2.3
Crisis
Communication
and
Twitter.............................................................................. 12
2.3
Case
study:
BP
and
the
oil
spill
in
Gulf
of
Mexico
(2010)......................................... 15
2.3.1
Presentation
of
BP............................................................................................................. 15
2.3.2
The
explosion
of
Deepwater
Horizon ......................................................................... 16
2.3.3
Crisis
Communication
Strategy
employed
by
BP.................................................... 17
2.3.4
Communicating
with
Twitter
during
the
oil
spill ................................................... 18
2.
4
Previous
Research
regarding
Twitter
and
Deepwater
Horizon
Incidence ...... 19
2.5
Aim
and
problem
statement.............................................................................................. 20
3.
METHODOLOGY........................................................................................................................ 22
3.2
Sampling................................................................................................................................... 23
3.3
Units
of
analysis
and
coding
scheme:............................................................................. 24
3.4
Piloting
of
code
book: .......................................................................................................... 25
3.5
Methodological
issues
and
limitations .......................................................................... 26
4.
RESULTS:
DESCRIPTIVE
STATISTICS................................................................................. 27
4.1
Analysis
of
BP’s
Official
Account
tweets........................................................................ 27

7.
vi
4.2
Analysis
of
the
anti-­BP’s
Twitter
account..................................................................... 31
4.3
Comparison
of
the
two
subjects:...................................................................................... 33
5.
DISCUSSION............................................................................................................................... 36
5.1
BP’s
Twitter
initial
response............................................................................................. 36
5.2
The
importance
of
followers:............................................................................................ 37
5.4
Composing
a
tweet................................................................................................................ 38
6.
CONCLUSION.............................................................................................................................. 40
6.1
Summary.................................................................................................................................. 40
6.2
Recommendations
for
future
researchers ................................................................... 41
7.
BIBLIOGRAPHY......................................................................................................................... 43

8.
vii
List of figures
Figure
1:
Illustration
of
an
oil
rig
(source:
Earthtimes).....................................................................1
Figure
2:
Illustration
of
the
explosion
(source:
telegraph) .............................................................4
Figure
3:
Diagram
of
Social
Media
Types .................................................................................................6
Figure 4 Chinese Sign of Crisis.......................................................................................................................9
Figure
5:
Table
of
Coombs’
Image
Repair
tactics...............................................................................12
Figure
6:
Illustration
Gulf
of
Mexico
(source:
telegraph)...............................................................22
Figure
7:
Illustration
of
the
sea
(source:
Republika)........................................................................27
Figure
8:
Chart
of
tactics
employed
by
BP
in
Twitter......................................................................28
Figure
9:
Chart
of
Message
Focus .............................................................................................................29
Figure 10: Chart of style..................................................................................................................................30
Figure
11:
chart
of
message
focus ............................................................................................................31
Figure
12:
Chart
of
style................................................................................................................................32
Figure
13:
Comparison
of
retweets
-­‐favorites ....................................................................................33
Figure
14:
Comparison
of
hashtag............................................................................................................33
Figure
15:
Comparison
of
number
of
tweets.......................................................................................34
Figure
16:
Timelie
of
BP_America
and
Bpglobalpr
tweets
(source:
Topsy)...........................38
Figure
17:
Satirical
illustration
of
Twitter
(source:
Guardian)....................................................40

9.
1
1. INTRODUCTION
Figure
1:
Illustration
of
an
oil
rig
(source:
Earthtimes)
“You never let a serious crisis go to waste. It’s an opportunity to do things you think you
could not do before.”
Rahm Emmanuell, Mayor of Chicago
The communications landscape is rapidly evolving. New tools, new technologies and
incredible innovations emerge continuously, almost on a weekly basis. This creates many
challenges for an organization. It means companies should be kept abreast of these numerous
developments, maintain flexible, and adapt their communications strategies on an on going
basis. This should take place at a significantly faster pace than in the past (CIPR social media
panel, 2011). Twitter, was launched in 2006 and has heavily influenced the communications
field ever since. Twitter is an instant messaging system that allows users to send brief
messages, up to 140 characters in length to a list of followers. The initial aim of this invention
was to keep friends networked and in touch on a constant basis. Very rapidly however it
evolved to a tool, which is now widely used for political and commercial purposes. It is
widely used to keep the public up-to-date and to encourage discussion.

10.
2
Crises and disasters have become an inevitable feature of the new information age.
Nowadays, we are witnessing an increased number of crises of all kinds. There is no
organization that is immune to crises, no matter how powerful, financially successful or
reputable is (Regester and Larkin, 2005: 142). Crises are threats that have the potential to
damage an organization (Coombs, 1999: 3).
One of the most recent and important crises we experienced, was the explosion and fire on
the BP-licensed drilling rig, named Deepwater Horizon, located in the Gulf of Mexico on the
20th April 2010. The Deepwater Horizon incidence or BP’s oil spill is a major catastrophe as
it harmed enormously and to a certain extent irreversibly the biodiversity and quality of life in
the wider region. Moreover, BP’s unprecedented oil spill, as a result of that explosion, was
the first global crisis that stimulated communication and discussions in the Twitter.
This dissertation will attempt to consider in detail the way BP used the Twitter as a
communication channel after the occurrence of that tragedy. This dissertation will also
attempt to identify and analyse the techniques that BP could have used in order to make its
presence within Twitter more intense.
The introductory chapter of this dissertation provides an extent review of literature, based on
academic resources and experts’ opinions. The first part of this chapter aims to explain the
basic concepts regarding crisis and Twitter. The second part of this chapter, examines theories
about crisis. Later, there is a description of the case study, i.e. BP’s oil spill in Gulf of
Mexico. Finally, two previous researches that study similar will be presented.
The second part of this dissertation describes the methodology which was followed, in order
to seek ways of increasing the impact of @BP_America in Twitter. In order, to achieve this a
content analysis has been conducted. The overall rationale for choosing this particular
research method is that it could provide data that could inform the problem. Content analysis
allows the researcher to identify communication trends and intentions of individuals or
groups, describe behavioral responses to communications, as well as determine emotional
state of groups or individuals (Marks, 2004).
In the next stage of the dissertation, once all data is coded, I will analyse statistically using
Microsoft Excel interface to compare variables and identify any correlations.

11.
3
Finally, the last chapter outlines the output of the research, as well as suggesting ways of
exploiting Twitter as a Corporate Reputation Strategy tool during and after a crisis.
The prediction made before the research was conducted is that BP did not successfully
engaged with Twitter at the time of the oil spill in 2010 and did not finally manage to engage
discussion that would positively impact its brand name. This is mainly due to firstly the
general unpreparedness for the management of a crisis of such a scale and secondly due to the
absence of social media in their communication plan. There is a growing body of crisis
management academic research referring on how communications are used to protect
corporate image. However, there is limited academic research on how to use social media and
particularly how Twitter is used to limit the negative impact on a brand during a crisis. This of
course is largely due to the fact that Twitter is a relatively new concept. Therefore, this
dissertation endeavours to be a communication’s manual as to how to get advantage of
Twitter during a crisis.

12.
4
2. REVIEW OF LITTERATURE
Figure
2:
Illustration
of
the
explosion
(source:
telegraph)
“The Chinese use two brush strokes to write the word 'crisis.' One brush stroke stands for
danger; the other for opportunity. In a crisis, be aware of the danger-but recognize the
opportunity.”
-­‐John F. Kennedy
The theoretical background of crisis communications presents high interest as it is
synthesized by findings and theories from various scientific fields such as psychology
(mental models approach to risk and crisis), sociology (disaster evacuation theory), business
(organizational sensemaking theory), physics (chaos theory), media communication (media
theory) and political science (policy change theory and catastrophic disasters), (Ulmer, 2006).
This dissertation focuses on crisis communication within corporations1
and social media,
particularly communicating with Twitter during the Beyond Petroleum (BP) Oil Spill in the
Gulf of Mexico. Therefore, it focuses on the business and mostly media aspects of Crisis
Communications theory, without ignoring the rest of the contributing fields.
1corporation: is a large company or group of companies authorized to act as a single entity and recognized as such in law.
Synonyms: association, company, organization (Advanced English Dictionary)

13.
5
2.1 Basic concepts
The following section introduces the essential concepts that will appear frequently throughout
this paper; the introduction of these concepts is particularly necessary and important for the
comprehension of the statements, the suggestions and the conclusions, which will be made
below.
2.1.1 Stakeholders
The Professor of business administration Edward Freeman suggested, “stakeholders are
individuals or groups who can affect or be affected by the achievements of a business”
(Freeman, 1984: 46).
In other words, any party that is committed to a business financially or otherwise can be
considered as a stakeholder. The blend of stakeholders varies from company to company. The
most common categories of stakeholders are: suppliers, consumers, government, creditors,
shareholders, investors, local communities, media, employees, NGOS, unions etc. The major
purpose of a business is maximise the value for the stakeholders.
2.1.2 Corporate Social Responsibility
The relationship between the society and the businesses has been changing over the last
decades; the demands placed upon companies have been changing. As a result companies’
responsibilities, functions and roles become debatable (Jonker, 2006).
Milton Friedman (1970), Nobel winner in Economics, stated that the only business of
businesses is doing business, i.e. the only responsibility of businesses is to increase profits
(Crane, 2008). However, theorists of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) suggest that the
responsibility of companies is not only to produce high-quality products and maximize
profits, but also to minimize negative externalities (Jonker, 2006).

14.
6
Therefore, from the above derives that CSR is about how businesses manage their activities
to produce an overall positive impact on society and it covers numerous issues such as eco-
efficiency, human rights, child labour and health (Johnson, 2008).
2.1.3 Web 2.0
Web 2.0 was coined during the mid ‘00s. It introduces a particular approach and ethos
(Gaunlett, 2011) and a new flow of communication, the many-to-many communication
(Beattie, 2011).
Web 2.0 engages technological innovations such as smart phones, and its main difference
from the previous form of web is that it allows users to generate their own online content by
posting photos or videos, commenting, blogging etc. Furthermore, within Web 2.0 users are
first class entities and are able to create connections with other users participating in the
system (Beattie, 2011).
Figure
3:
Diagram
of
Social
Media
Types

15.
7
The concept of web 2.0 implies that the more collaborators engage in a particular site or
service, the more power and influence the particular platform acquires (Gaunlett, 2011).
Once Web 2.0 was developed social media, which are easy-to use visitor’s generated
platforms, began to appear. Social media is the most stereotypical Web 2.0 example and only
exist in the marketplace when consumers use them and contribute to their platforms (Beattie,
2011). There are many sorts of social media, each one serving a different need (see figure 3).
Some of the most popular examples are Facebook, Wikipedia, Twitter and Blogger. Social
media are mostly free and create a dialogue between users, who most of the times share
common interests.
2.1.4 Twitter
Microblogging is a distinct sub-category of social media. It is differentiated from the other
social media in terms of the quantity of content uploaded by users. Whereas most of the social
media platforms encourage users to share as much information as possible, microblogs limit
the amount of content shared (Robbins, 2010). The most characteristic examples of
microblogging are Tumblr, 12seconds and Twitter.
Twitter was launched in 2006 by three programmers, namely Evans Williams, Jack Dorsey
and Biz Stones. Twitter became popular and stimulated discussion after having won the
SXSW Web Award in the “blog” category in 2007. Since its appearance Twitter has set a
standard in microblogging (Robbins, 2010).
Twitter is a two-way communication tool. It has elements that are similar to texting, blogging
and RSS and so forth. The characteristics that make Twitter unique are brevity and simplicity.
The user is called to send a message with length no more than 140 characters, usually easy to
write and read (O’Reilly, 2009). The users are also able to upload photos and links that lead to
other sources.
Twitter’s users can choose who to follow. Therefore the content that appears in their home
screen is selective. In addition the microblogging platform allows users to address other users,
by mentioning their username (@) and ask them direct questions in public or in private. As a
result Twitter provides immediate feedback, and stimulates instant discussions. Users of the

16.
8
same interests can be connected with what is known as hash tags (#). Furthermore, Twitter
combines web-based information and mobile information.
Twitter was not intended to serve the need of sharing everyday activities and feelings. This
kind of trivial information and such updates however create lightweight but still meaningful
relationships among Twitter users. Theorists have named this phenomenon “ambient
awareness” (O’Reilly, 2009: 20). Twitter has become a useful and powerful tool to measure
consumers’ trends and opinions about products and services, as well as a powerful
promotional tool. Finally, the most important use of Twitter is that it puts together a live
newspaper that not only reproduces news, but also pinpoints new stories and usually includes
live commentaries of unscheduled and unexpected incidences or planned events (O’Reilly,
2009).
From the demographics and market share point of view it should be highlighted that 16 per
cent of total Internet users are engaged with the popular microblogging platform, men are
more than women. Twitter is more popular among Hispanic and Black users. It is also more
popular to adults from 18 to 27 years old and to people who live in urban areas. Twitter is
behind Facebook that engages 67 per of cent of Internet users and was recently “threatened”
by Instagram and Pinterest which command a 13 percent and 15 percent market share
respectively , (Benette, 2013).
2.2 Crisis: Theoretical Framework
The literature about crisis communication is fragmented, as scholars write about crises from
many different points of view. After all, crisis communication as a subject of research and as
a corporate function remains relatively new, and effectively is neither widely accepted nor
well understood (Mitroff, 1994).
2.2.1 Definition of Crisis
There is not a generally accepted definition of crisis. This might be due to the fact that there
are many different focuses and perspectives of theorists engaged on this subject. According to
Kathleen Fearn-Banks crisis is a major, non-routine, unexpected incidence, or series of

17.
9
incidents with a potentially negative outcome affecting a company, organization or industry
as well as figures, products, services or brand names (2011:2). A crisis interrupts the normal
flow of activities within an organization (Coombs, 2012). There are various factors that create
a crisis such as doing something wrong, immoral, unethical or slinking (Jordan, 2011). A
crisis can appear within all sorts of organizations, i.e. corporate or NGO and public figures i.e.
politicians or celebrities.
Dr Henry Kissinger, a political scientist, said that an issue ignored is a crisis invented. After
all, 75 per cent of all crises ever occurred, can be described as “smoldering issues” (Jordan,
2011: 6). In other words, if the factors that create the crisis have been identified and solved
appropriately they would have not turned into a full-blown crisis. Therefore, a crisis is the
result of failure of management to engage on the right issues. The main theme in a crisis is the
matter of accountability, the ability and willingness of some organizations to respond to key
stakeholder’s expectations on particular subjects. In other words, when an organization has
taken a decision that stakeholders perceived as inappropriate it is usually followed by a crisis.
Coombs suggested that crises are largely perceptual, i.e. if stakeholders believe there is a
crisis; the organization is indeed in a crisis unless it can successfully persuade stakeholders it
is not (Coombs, 2012). Friedman has stated that a crisis is not necessarily a bad thing. It
might be a radical change for good as well as bad (Coombs, 2009). Meanwhile, the Chinese
symbol of crisis depicts both danger and opportunity (see figure 4). Therefore, it is underlined
that crisis can potentially create opportunities, that are not available during normal business
flow, such as strategic changes or develop competitive advantage (Ulmer, 2006).
Figure 4 Chinese Sign of Crisis

18.
10
Regester and Larkin suggest that crises come in many varieties, impossible to list (2005).
There are not even two crises that are similar. Each crisis has distinct duration, rhythm and
ramifications. A crisis can be intentional (e.g. boycott, strike, terrorism attack) or
unintentional (e.g. natural disaster, product failure). Hurricane Katrina can be considered as a
crisis, as well as the terrorism attack of 9th September 2001, the recent detection of horsemeat
in UK Tesco’s products and the discussions about Obama’s religion. A major crisis is also the
one that occurred in Bhopal (India), which involved Union Carbide. In 1984 due to the toxic
effects of a gas leak from a chemical factory run by Union Carbide, hundreds of people lost
their lives. The company is still operating, but the tragedy is still evoking strong emotions.
2.2.2 Crisis Management and
Communications
A crisis can create three potential threats: public safety, financial loss and reputation loss.
Crisis Management is a process designed to prevent or lessen the damage a crisis can inflict
on an organization and its stakeholders (Fearn, 2001:480). Most or the theorists that have
studied crisis management have divided it in three phases: pre-crisis (Detection and
prevention), crisis response (containment) and post-crisis (recovery and learning) (Fearn,
2011).
Moreover, crisis communications is the dialogue between the organization and its public
prior, during and after the negative occurrence (Fearn, 2011:7). This dialogue details
strategies and tactics, which are designed to minimize damage to the image of the
organization. Crisis communication is highly critical in effective crisis management (Coombs,
2007).
In the pre-crisis stage, firstly the organizations should detect the prodrome2
or warning sign
(Fearn, 2011:11) of a crisis and prevent known risks. In addition, each company should
develop a comprehensive crisis management plan, assign a crisis management team and
appoint a spokesperson. The effective preparation for the management of a crisis should also
2
Prodrome or prodroma is an early symptom that an attack is about to occur (Advanced
English Dictionary)

19.
11
include the preparation of pre-draft messages (statements by the CEO, news releases or dark
web sites etc) and the development of communication channels strategy (Coombs, 2007).
A crisis management plan can be described more as a reference tool rather than a step-by-
step guide that depicts the specific steps to follow in order to manage the crisis. It usually
provides key contact information, what typically should be done and equally important what
should not be done in a crisis occurrence as well as important reminders (Coombs, 2007).
However, each crisis is different, therefore a crisis management plan should be adaptable for
each different emergency situation.
The relation between a company and the media during a crisis is a highly valued; therefore
spokespersons should be pre-assigned and well trained, in order to adopt eloquence in front of
the cameras (Jordan, 2011).
CSR mainly contributes to the corporate reputation. The successful application of Social
Responsibility provides a second change to the company in case of a crisis (Dowling, 2002).
Crisis response is the period of time just after the crisis hits. There is a great deal of research
responding to this stage of a crisis, and it is separated in two sections, namely initial crisis
response and reputation repair (Coombs, 2007).
In account of initial crisis response, there are common rules in terms of how a company
should act according to theorists; quickness, accuracy and consistency (Fearn, 2011). A
company needs to provide stakeholders with information within the first hours after a crisis
hits, and that is why preparedness is essential and of paramount importance. This is the only
chance for the company to present clearly and loudly its position, before the media chaos
starts (Coombs, 2007). Moreover, a fast response indicates that the crisis is under control.
Accuracy on communication is important for the public safety. Companies should disclose
only accurate information, and correct any false statements.
Furthermore, expressions of concern referring to the victims involved in the crisis may
benefit the company when used, but can also damage the company when not used. On the one

20.
12
hand, theorists have noted that apologies may reduce claims against the organization, but on
the other hand lawyers may exploit them as admissions of guilt (Coombs, 2007).
There are several theoretical approaches regarding the crisis response stage; some of the most
discussed are Corporate Apologia by Keith Michael Hearit (2006), Image Repair Theory by
William Benoit (1995), Organizational Renewal by Ulster (2009) and Situational Crisis
Communication theory by Timothy Combs (2002). The latter has isolated communication
Image Repair tactics and made inspired by previous studies (Coombs, 2007), see figure 5.
Figure
5:
Table
of
Coombs’
Image
Repair
tactics
As far as post-crisis stage is concerned, usually the organization continues to restore its
reputation and the efforts to make up the catastrophe, but it also returns back to normal
business flow. The organization should keep updated information to all stakeholders about the
efforts of recovery. A crisis is also a learning experience; therefore at this particular stage
businesses re-evaluate their strategies and codes of conduct.
2.2.3 Crisis Communication and Twitter
It is a wide held belief that after the introduction of social media, the scenery of crisis
management has broadly changed. Social media and particularly Twitter heavily determine
how crises are communicated.
Tactic Explanation
Attack the accuser The organization confronts the person or group that accuses it
Denial The organization refuses that there is a crisis
Scapegoat The organization shifts the blame to some external person
Excuse The organization minimizes its responsibility
Justification The organization minimizes the perceived damage responsibility
Reminder Crisis managers remind about the positive actions of the
organization
Ingratiation Crisis managers praise the stakeholders
Compensation The organization buys off the victims
Corrective action The organization claims to fix the damages

21.
13
First of all, concerning the pre-crisis stage, social media is perhaps is the most effective way
to identify warning signs when a crisis is about to brake out. It is essential to track Twitter for
mentions of the brand and updates about the industry (Jordan, 2011). For instance, after the
introduction of Apple’s latest mobile device, namely iphone5 there were some complaints
about fast battery drain in Twitter. Apple’s officials could monitor customers’ opinion about
the new product and track the competition with other devices such as Samsung Galaxy. In
cases of a product failure a company may also observe and monitore whether customers
have formed relevant groups of complaining on Facebook. The appropriate use of Twitter can
help control rumors and misinformation that could put the reputation of a company under
debate (Jordan, 2011).
Nowadays, companies should embed the social media in their current crisis management
strategy; prepare draft messages for Twitter and ensure that the PR personnel are familiar with
social media. Jane Jordan Maier, the author of “The four stages of highly effective crisis
management” suggests the following pre-draft message in occasion of a crisis: “Aware of the
accident XXX. More information as soon as possible. Follow @XXX for latest news and
updates” (2011: 112).
When a crisis starts, there is a lot of activity on social media. Twitter became a popular
breaking news tool, after the Mumbai massacre in 2008. It may be possible that a crisis starts
in Twitter; especially in the cases of product failure. What’s more, organizations such as
FEMA (Federal Emergency Department Agency or Red Cross since the Hurricane Katrina
and the California wildfires respectively use Twitter for alerts, advice and breaking news
stories.
Tweeter’s users disseminate information faster with eyewitness accounts than any
newsroom has the ability to do so far. The mainstream media based their stories on the
microblogging platform, as it could be used for crowdsourcing. In other words, reporters can
track contacts and sources for their stories, experts, and many other useful information.
“Never before has a social media website played the kind of role in conflict that Twitter has
played in Thailand’s nine-week anti-government uprising, keeping people informed even as if

22.
14
amplified the hate on both sides of the country’s divide. Some say Twitter has even saved lives
as fighting consumed in the streets of Bangkok,” (Jordan, 2011:35).
Twitter can be used as a communication channel during a crisis for both public and internal
communication. Companies can use Twitter to achieve quick response to the public; answer
questions and apologizes, especially when phone lines are congested. In addition, the
employees can use Twitter to communicate amongst them.
Hashtags, such as #BPoilspill after the destruction in Gulf of Mexico or #Pistorius during the
famous athlete’s trial are broadly used by the public to follow the flow of a story, especially in
an event of a crisis.
Experts suggest that when conversations relate to the company you serve, you ought to
engage and represent the official voice of your company. “Twitter is a bit like a street party.
There are people who are only interested in hanging out with their own group as opposed to
the whole street party. You need to attend the party and listen to see what conversations are
worth joining,” (Jordan, 2011: 207).
The Charter Institute of Public Relations has established guidelines for the consistent use of
social media; it advices PR practitioners to ensure that the brand they serve is consistent
across all the web platforms, to be transparent without though disclosing sensitive
information, to be respectful and not to bring the company into disrepute (CIPR social media
panel, 2011).
Recently, HMV the famous retailer dealt with a Twitter crisis. As the company faces
financial losses, it was just about to close down most of its stores, As a result a number of
employees would be made redundant. A 21-year old newly axed online marketing and social
media planner, Poppy Rose Cleere, aired HMV’s confidential information to the Twitter
account; the mass layoffs of loyal workers, the underpaid salaries, the mismanagement issues
and the illegal graduate scheme. A few hours later of course HMV was in the front page of
every major newspaper across the Atlantic. Ryan Holmes, CEO of Hootsuite, a social media
management platform, comments that even though 73 per cent of the Fortune 500 companies
run Twitter accounts, the corporate protocol doesn’t keep in pace with the speed of social

23.
15
media changes. He suggested that it might be wrong companies with a massive number of
followers to assign social media responsibilities to interns, without having installed an
approval system. Finally, he added that social media profiles of large multinational companies
should be monitored and manipulated by only one administrator of high hierarchy (Holmes,
2013).
During the post-crisis phase, corporations could restore their reputation, by reinforcing their
CSR by effective use of social media. Social media have begun to play a key role in how
companies shape their corporate social responsibility and present themselves as good citizens.
A few years ago, companies could broadcast messages by press releases, however today
companies are interconnected with the conversations and thoughts of customers, where brands
should be involved with and stimulate authentic discussions. Furthermore, the dialogue
between public and the brand is fruitful for both sides. Companies should demonstrate their
CRS programs through social media and persuade the public that working together they could
make a positive impact in the world (Rowley, 2009).
2.3 Case study: BP and the oil spill in Gulf
of Mexico (2010)
The catastrophe occurred on 20 April 2010 caused by an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon
drilling rig killed 11 men and sent millions of gallons of oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico.
This part of the dissertation presents a brief profile of BP, tracks BP’s crisis management plan
and describes the communication strategies that were used by the oil company.
2.3.1 Presentation of BP
BP Plc, incorporated in 1909, is an oil and gas company. BP originally was the acronym for
“British Petroleum” as from 1914 to 1987 UK government was a major shareholder, but today
stands for “Beyond Petroleum”. BP Plc is the world’s sixth largest oil company and the
seventh largest company in the world, measured by current revenues3
. From 2005 and onward
BP also provides alternative energy such as solar, hydrogen, wind and gas fired power.
3
Information
delivered
by
IQ
Capital
Partners
Database

24.
16
Today, the company operates in approximately 80 countries, it occupies 83,400 employees4
and the current Group Chief executive is Bob Dudley.
BP embraces the logic of “multi-stakeholder capitalism”, which means that its long-term
survival depends not only on its financial performance, but also on its environmental and
social performance (Johnson, 2008). During the 90s, BP became the first energy company to
draw attention to the potential dangers of global warming. BP committed to control its own
emissions, fund scientific research, develop alternative fuels for the long term and contribute
to the debate in search of the answer to the wider global warming issue. The energy firm
pledged to reduce carbon emissions levels by 10% by 2010, and it achieved this through
energy efficient projects and reduction of gas. BP is an official sponsor of Olympic Games.
2.3.2 The explosion of Deepwater Horizon
On 22nd of April 2010, during a drilling operation in the Macondo Prospect (see figure 3), 43
nautical miles from the shore, there was an explosion to the rig of Deepwater Horizon5
. The
vessel burst into flames and a few hours later sank. Eleven people were reported dead and
about 17 injured. The explosion was the result of a blowout preventer’s failure to prevent the
release of crude oil (Pulham, 2010).
The explosion of Deepwater Horizon signaled the start of the biggest environmental disaster
ever caused by human activity, as the estimation of the oil flow in the sea was 5,000 barrels
per day, for 87 days. On July 15, BP successfully sealed with cement the casing. After a four-
month internal investigation conducted by 50 specialists on behalf of BP, the conclusions
were that no single factor caused the Macondo tragedy. According to the report, the explosion
4
At
31st
December
of
2011
5
Deepwater
Horizon
was
an
offshore
oildrilling
rig
owned
by
Transocean. The
constructions
of
Deepwater
Horizon
had
started
in
1998
in
South
Korea
by
Hyundai
Heavy
Industries
and
accomplished
by
2001
when
the
rig
was
delivered
and
valued
at
$560m
(Pulham,
2010).
The
owner
and
operator
of
that
fifth
generation
offshore
drilling
unit
was
Transocean
Holdings
LLC,
which
is
the
largest
offshore
drilling
company
globally.
BP’s
Officials
shook
hands
with
Transocean’s
representatives
to
lease
the
Deepwater
Horizon
from
2001
to
September
2013,
for
approximately
$500,000
per
day
(Crittenden,
2010).

25.
17
was the result of interlinked series of mechanical failures, human judgments, engineering
design, operational implementation and team interfaces (Gulf of Mexico oil spill, Annual
Report 2010).
2.3.3 Crisis Communication Strategy
employed by BP
According to analysts, it was obvious that BP was not prepared to deal with a catastrophe of
this scale such as the oil spill of 2010. BP ignored crucial facts and warnings from workers in
the pre-crisis stage.
During the crisis, BP was also blamed for not acting quickly, and not being able to deal with
the media coverage adequately. The CEO Tony Hayward at the time did not appear in the
media within 24 hours to explain the importance of the situation to the stakeholders. What’s
more, when he appeared to the media he followed the justification practice, i.e. he tried to
minimize the scale of the damage; particularly he stated, “The Gulf of Mexico is a very big
ocean. The amount of volume of oil and dispersant we are putting into it is tiny to the total
volume, the environmental impact of this disaster is likely to have been very, very modest,”
(BBC, 2010).
In addition, BP used the tactic of scapegoat, when its officials tried to blame Transocean for
the explosion. Furthermore, a vital mistake was to report inaccurate numbers of the oil spill –
1,000 barrels of leakage per day- whilst it was 5,000 barrels per day. BP initially
underestimated the scope and severity of the spill by stating a low amount of leaking oil and
by comparing the relative size of the leak with the vast expanse of the ocean. Effectively, the
public lost the trust in the company. The Chairman of BP Carl-Henric Svanberg apologized
on behalf of the company. He has taken the lion's share of responsibility for the cleanup of the
Gulf, which may help restore some of its credibility. However, he stated that: “ BP cares
about small people” which caused public anger, as most of the inhabitants of the Gulf of
Mexico felt offended. BP compensated individuals and businesses as well as the government
and the local communities.

26.
18
Currently, the company is processing the post-crisis, where the US court has approved the
biggest criminal penalties in US history given to British oil giant BP as part of a settlement
related to the fatal 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster. In November, BP said it would pay
$4bn to the US Department of Justice and agreed to plead guilty to 14 criminal charges. The
sum included a $1.26bn fine. BP has reviewed its code of conduct and safety and operational
function, as well as its risk management. Finally, BP has funded an independent research to
improve the knowledge of the biodiversity of Gulf of Mexico, eight initial early restoration
projects that were initiated in 2012 are expected to cost approximately $60 million and
projects to enhance the tourism in Gulf of Mexico.
2.3.4 Communicating with Twitter during
the oil spill
Before the crisis, BP has been tweeting a few times per month, and the first tweet after the
spill was not before April the 27, i.e. seven days after the major incidence: “BP pledges full
support for deepwater horizon probes”. Seven days during a crisis time can be considered as
seven years for crisis communication theorists, especially when the company responds after
the public reaction. As far as the corporate Facebook page concerns the first update was on
the 2nd of may: “The BP community support team has set up a hotline for those who would
like to help with the coast recovery effort 866-4485816.” Prior to the crisis, there were only a
few updates.
Since its first tweet BP has been using twitter on a daily basis to send updates on what’s
going on in the Gulf of Mexico and sometimes answering the questions of their followers. It
seemed that BP was making efforts to be transparent. BP listed all the important contact
information on its Twitter page for various response-team departments as well as its other
online sites so people can stay connected in several ways.
On Twitter thousands of tweets were published mentioning BP in connection with the oil
spill, many of which were directly addressing BP’s US corporate Twitter Account with
questions, suggestions and angry comments. BP faced a challenge during the oil spill disaster;

27.
19
angry consumers launched @bpglobalpr, which even used BP green and yellow logo defaced
with blackened oil spill.
“A ton of misinformation about BP is being spread through Twitter. There are so many tweets
that the cap isn’t real-that the fix is just a sham,” the online marketing researcher, Kathryn
Koebel commented (Coombs, 2010).
To restore his corporation’s reputation, advertising experts have recommended that Dudley
look beyond traditional media and make an effort to built a relationship with the public via
social media. The problem is reaching the public; people hesitate to like or follow BP.
Therefore, when the manager tweets or posts the updates about environmental and economic
restoration, public impact is limited.
2. 4 Previous Research regarding Twitter
and Deepwater Horizon Incidence
It’s unfortunate that there are not a lot of accessible researches, regarding communicating
with Twitter during BP’s crisis. However, two studies were isolated; Gorkana’s6
media
analysis during the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe and another graduate’s student thesis with
title “British Petroleum’s image restoration strategy on social media and response after the
2010 Gulf oil spill” (Rogers, 2008).
Gorkana tried to examine the impact of social media on crisis communications. As explained
in the methodology part of the report, the company used a representative sample of social and
mainstream media coverage in order to study the events and the public’s social media
response to the incident. The report underlines that within a crisis of this magnitude corporate
image is in the hands of the consumers.
The report also found that there is a strong correlation between social and traditional media,
even if their favorability profiles are radically different. In fact most of the events are
reflected first by a spike in mainstream media and followed within 24 hours by a spike in
6
Gorkana
group
is
a
media
company
that
provides
media
insights
that
serve
to
plan
corporate
public
relation
strategy.

28.
20
social media. This leads to the conclusion that despite the ability of Twitter to quickly report
an incident, the majority of discussions is stimulated by traditional media.
However, while the traditional media treatment of BP throughout the crisis was wholly
unfavorable fluctuated, Twitter remained constant at minimum level of 60 per cent
unfavorable posts, whatever BP did. It was deduced that visual channels of BP such as
Youtube and Flickr had favorability rations than the text based social media such as Twitter.
Katherine Rogers student of MA Communications, at University of Miami, conducted a
study that had implications for any professional, who attempts to create a crisis
communication plan. The particular study focused on identifying how Twitter was used by
public, as a communication channel to reach BP and express concerns regarding the effects of
oil spill. The student used a content analysis to examine Tweets and finally determined that
BP used Twitter as a way to disperse messages, thought the result was that BP’s message was
not well received (Rogers, 2008: ii).
2.5 Aim and problem statement
The most interesting aspects of the literature regarding Twitter as a communication channel,
during the ongoing crisis of BP’s oil spill in Gulf of Mexico is the fact that the original
account of BP, i.e. @BP_America had less than half followers than the most popular anti-BP
twitter account, i.e. @Bpglobalpr. In fact the latter has 144,739 followers and the official BP
Twitter account is consisted by 53,773 followers. Thus, one could suggest is interesting to
juxtapose the content of those two accounts, while both target to the same group.
Therefore, the objective of this dissertation is to provide techniques, with which BP’s
response in Twitter could have been better received. The research question that derives is:
“What are the main differences between BP’s Official Twitter account and Anti-BP’s Twitter
account?”, i.e. Why was @bpglobalpr more effective than @BP_America?
More specifically this dissertation aims to:
(A) Analyze the content of tweets and techniques used by BP within Twitter

29.
21
(B) Analyze the content of tweets and techniques used by the particular anti-BP
organization
(C) Compare the two analysis
(D) Discuss the most effective tweet content and techniques

30.
22
3. METHODOLOGY
Figure
6:
Illustration
Gulf
of
Mexico
(source:
telegraph)
“The best way to engage honestly with the marketplace via Twitter is to never use the words
"engage," "honestly," or "marketplace.”
― Jeffrey Zeldman, Businessweek
The three major traditions that have been signaled out as having a profound influence on
thinking about the role and impact of media are: positivism, interpretive social science and
critical social science. This dissertation follows the positivism school. Usually, the types of
researches that are associated with the positivism paradigm tend to be quantitative and engage
experiments, surveys or statistics. The goal of positivism is to explain casual relations
between observable phenomena; “Positivism defines social science as an organized method
for combining deductive logic with precise empirical observations of individual behaviour in
order to discover and confirm a set of probabilistic casual laws that can be used to predict
general patterns of human activity,” (Gunter, 2000: 4). The laws that have been established in
positivism may be true for a large group of subjects, but not to an equal degree for everything

31.
23
or everyone. What’s more, positivistic social research is based on objective measurement,
rather than subjective judgment or intuition.
In order to study how both @BP_America and @Bpglobalpr used Twitter response to the
Gulf of Mexico oil spill a content analysis is conducted, i.e. a research for the objective,
systematic and quantitative description of the manifest content of communication (Gunter,
2000:56). Content analysis was chosen, because it allows coding and counting a large amount
of tweets over a relatively long period of time. Content analysis can be used to examine any
written document and is a widely used and understood research method (Marks, 2004).
Moreover, content analysis is a useful method to analyze archival material is inexpensive and
could be easily repeated if problems occurred. Finally, content analysis is the easiest method
to replicate and usually materials used are available for future researchers to use. In fact, the
central aim of content analysis is to provide a description of what a certain media text
contains, describe trends or patterns in media portrayals and provide a formula of research in
a fashion that could be repeated by future researchers.
On the other hand, when conducting a content analysis research is limited by availability of
material. Also, content analysis is a purely descriptive method and may not revealed
underlying motives for the observed pattern.
3.2 Sampling
It was determined to conduct an analysis of focus groups transcripts (Wimmer and Dominik
1994). Any type of content analysis starts with the selection of sample for description.
First, the medium from which sample will be gathered, was selected. This dissertation uses
output obtained by Twitter, due to the nature of the research question. As explained
previously in the dissertation Twitter is archival. There are many archival platforms of
Tweets, however for the deduction of this study, Topsy.com was chosen, as it was decided to
be the most user-friendly, it is free and it saves tweets from all times.
The sampling frame of this research is the two particular Twitter accounts, namely,
@BP_America, @bpglobalpr. In total, 70 tweets generated by BP and 70 tweets generated by

32.
24
the anti-BP organization, from the day of the accident up until today, were analyzed. All
tweets were randomly selected.
3.3 Units of analysis and coding scheme:
As mentioned earlier, content analysis is quantifiable, i.e. its goal is the accurate
representation of a body of messages (Gunter, 2000). In order to conceptualize the tweets
several variables based on the previous review of literature, will be used in this study. The
variables are the date, the number of re-tweets and favorites, followers, the message style and
focus and the media type. For BP’s official account it was added the variable of image
restoration tactic, if any was identified.
Content analysis is systematic rather than objective. In other words, the results are not based
on the researcher’s idiosyncrasies, but on a coding scheme. Only one set of coding guidelines
is used through the process, to which all coders must adhere:
• Date: the date (dd/mm/yy), that each of the tweets studied was posted in Twitter. The
range is from 20/04/10 up to today.
• Number of re-tweets: the number of followers that reposted a particular tweet
• Number of favorites: the number of followers that have endorsed a particular tweet
• Message focus: the field that each tweet is referring to. This includes: oil industry,
recovery, health, financial and other.
• Message style: the formality of the tweet, i.e. formal or informal.
• Media type: any media mediums linked in the tweet, ie. Picture, video, link to a
website or none
• Image reputation tactic (only for @BP_America): a tactic from Coombs
explanation (see table 5) employed via Twitter
Regarding
the
coding
reliability,
another
graduate
student,
who
attempt
to
answer
a
similar
research
questions,
used
a
similar
codebook
that
successfully
led
to
a
decent
conclusion.
Other
than
that,
a
piloting
test,
described
further
in
the
methodology
has
been
accomplished
in
order
to
test
whether
the
particular
codebook
leads
to
a
coherent
set
of
results.

33.
25
3.4 Piloting of code book:
A pilot study is a trial in preparation for a major research. The pilot study does not guarantee
the success of the main research, however it increases the likelihood. Baker has found a
sample size of 10 to 20 per cent is an effective number of particles, when considering
employing a pilot study (Simon, 2011). Therefore, for the particular study 10 tweets have
been used to test if the codebook and procedure are actually answering the research question
of this dissertation.
In reality, three different pilot studies have been conducted for the accomplishment of this
dissertation. The first procedure was rejected, due to lack of data. In other words, the process
did not lead to a sufficient answer to the research question (What is the dominant content of
BP’s tweets prior, during and after the crisis?). Therefore the research problematic had to be
re-established. The second pilot study was rejected due to lack of SPSS skills.
The purpose of this study was to examine if the instructions and codebook are
comprehensible, i.e. if the procedure can be replicate by a future researcher (Simon, 2011).
Indeed, the final instructions were demonstrated to a second undergraduate media student
who stated that they were simple and easy-to-follow and each variable of the study was
clearly coded.
The second reason of conducting a pilot study was to investigate, whether the researcher is
adequately skilled in the procedures (Simon, 2011). This is the stage, where Microsoft Excel
replaced SPSS.
The third factor that was examined by conducting the pilot study, was the validity of results
(Simon, 2011). It was concluded that after having analysed the message focus, it was feasible
to describe the content of tweets and after having analyzed the hashtags and style of tweets it
became feasible to make results about the technique. Finally, the comparison of the two
Twitter Accounts, was simple after having exported the data into diagrams, through Microsoft
Excell.

34.
26
3.5 Methodological issues and limitations
This research focused only on one singular outlet to study the engagement of BP with
stakeholders, namely Twitter. While Twitter, has become a very important aspect of crisis
communications, it includes one aspect of how did BP responded to the crisis. It is possible
that the close analysis of more than one media outlets, or social media platforms would have
yielded more informative results.
Archival research has a lot of limitations, due to the fact that data was gathered prior of the
study, usually for non-scientific purposes. Thus, the available data is not tailored to the study
and often suffer from incomplete, compromised or missing extracts. Therefore, sometimes the
researcher is tempted to design the research question and hypotheses according to the
availability of data and the study is designed backwards.
The archives are often owned and controlled by third parties. For the particular study,
Topsy.com was used. This is a kind of independent Twitter archive service, which however
does not keep old tweets that did not mark popularity.

35.
27
4. RESULTS: DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS
Figure
7:
Illustration
of
the
sea
(source:
Republika)
“There cannot be a crisis next week, my schedule is already full”
-Henry A. Kissinger
This chapter sets out the results of the content analysis research. After having coded the
variables, the data was recorded in Excel, which enabled to export diagrams. Each sub-
chapter answers a particular scale of the research question.
4.1 Analysis of BP’s Official Account tweets
This section analyses the data of BP’s official Twitter account. In other words it answers the
first scale of the research question regarding the content and techniques that are included in
BP’s tweets.
The first illustration (figure 8) depicts the image repair strategies employed by BP via
Twitter, according to Coombs explanation (see figure 5). After the explosion in Gulf of
Mexico, the sample showed that 41 per cent (28 tweets) revealed corrective action intentions,

36.
28
19 per cent (19 tweets) revealed reminder intentions, 9 per cent revealed compensation
intentions (6 tweets) and 3 per cent (2 tweets) revealed excuse intentions. While, 29 per cent
of tweets (11 tweets) did not employ any strategies, there was no evidence of apology, attack
accuser, scapegoat, justification and ingratiation tactics.
Figure
8:
Chart
of
tactics
employed
by
BP
in
Twitter
The most representative tweets for each tactic are:
Corrective action: @BP_America: Our top priority is the Gulf. I will not be diverted
away from that. We will spend what it takes to make it right. ^Tony
Excuse: @BP_America: We have never been sure about the well casing since the accident
occurred. -Adm Allen
Compensation: @BP_America: $201m in BP claims paid: http://bit.ly/9DRA2P Have a
question about claims? Join live Facebook Q&A today @1:30pm CT: http://bit.ly/cmTJD7

37.
29
Reminder: @BP_America: Nearly 100 #BP volunteers helped renovate #Houston
school for children with disabilities: http://bit.ly/BPArbor
The second chart (figure 9) illustrates the dominant message focus of sampling tweets
generated by BP. As shown below, 29 per cent of tweets (20 tweets) were focused on
issues regarding the oil industry and equally on issues regarding recovery from the Oil
Spill. Moreover, 10 per cent of tweets were focusing on financial issues (7 tweets), whilst
9 per cent of tweets, was focusing on environmental issues (6 tweets). Finally, 3 per cent
of analyzed tweets of focusing on health (2 tweets) and 1 per cent to none of those areas.
Figure
9:
Chart
of
Message
Focus
Indicative examples of tweets:
Recovery: @BP_America: Alert: BP has been partnering with Tri-State Bird
Rescue to recover & clean impacted wildlife. For info & ways to help: www.tristatebird.org
Oil Industry: @BP_America: Find out how technology underpins everything
we do: http://bit.ly/Za4Lp5
Financial: @BP_America: Darryl Willis answers BP claims questions today @
1:30 pm CST on http://facebook.com/BPAmerica. Post your question: http://bit.ly/AskDarryl
recovery
industry
other
financial
environment
health
none

38.
30
Environment: @BP_America: What are your #energy habits? See how they
impact your energy score with the @BPEnergyLab: http://bit.ly/BP-Energy-Lab
Health: @BP_America: To all of our employees, partners and customers in the
Northeast—please prepare and stay safe during Hurricane #Sandy: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov
The third variable that was coded is the style of the message (see figure10). It was
calculated that 81 per cent of the sampled tweets (56) was written in formal language,
while the rest of the sample (14) could be characterized as informal.
Figure 10: Chart of style
Regarding the media type of each tweet, as shown on the next diagram, most of the
sampling tweets did not include any multimedia (39 tweets), while 19 tweets included a link
to another website and 4 tweets include a link to another social media platform. Furthermore,
4 tweets included visual items, 3 tweets included a video and 1 tweet included an audio item.
formal informal

39.
31
4.2 Analysis of the anti-BP’s Twitter
account
This part of the results examines the content of @bpgloabalpr account and thus covers the
second aspect of the research question. As shown in the following diagram (see figure 11), the
27 per cent of the tweets refer to oil industry (19 tweets), 19 per cent of the tweets refer to
financial issues (13 tweets), 4 per cent of the tweets respond to both financial and health and 1
per cent of the tweets respond to recovery. However, the majority of the tweets, i.e. 55 per
cent generated by the anti-BP account discuss random issues (29 tweets).
Figure
11:
chart
of
message
focus
Indicative examples of tweets:
Oil industry: @Bpglobalpr: Chevron launched their "We Agree"
campaign today, calling on oil companies to clean their messes. Jerks.
http://ow.ly/2Vx7q
Environment: @Bpglobalpr: Reports of 79% of the oil remaining in
the Gulf are false according to the pie chart we made ourselves.
http://ow.ly/2s889
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
environmentfinancial
industry
health
recovery
other
13
4
19
3
1
29

40.
32
Financial: @Bpglobalpr: The bad news- we're being sued by the
United States. The good news- they sue in dollars, not pounds. #1.5538
Health: @Bpglobalpr: It's better to be safe than sorry w/ employee
health. So we save respirator $ for ads & never apologize. http://ow.ly/26t9y
Recovery: @Bpglobalpr: RestoretheGulf.com is backed by "Women of
the Storm" which is backed by "America's Wetland" which is funded by Shell.
#DrillBabyDrill
The second illustration indicates that the writing style of the anti-BP account is mostly
informal, with sarcasm and humoristic features (see figure 12). The media type used by
mostly used by BP global PR is links to other articles and pictures and there were no tweets
with video in the sample.
Figure
12:
Chart
of
style
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
formal informal
13
56

41.
33
4.3 Comparison of the two subjects:
This part of the results, responds to the third scale of the research question, i.e. What are
finally the differences between the content and tools exploited by BP’s official account and
anti-BP’s Account.
Figure
13:
Comparison
of
retweets
-­favorites
Figure
14:
Comparison
of
hashtag
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
BP America
BPglobalPr
26
41
0
2000
4000
6000
8000
10000
12000
14000
16000
18000
Retweets Favorites
400 22
16680
2745
BP America
BPglobalPr

42.
34
Finally, in order to come up with a substantial conclusion, an analysis of the two accounts
was conducted. It was found that BP counts 10456 tweets, and BP global PR 524. In addition,
BP has 53660 followers while; BP global PR has 144570 followers. Finally, BP follows 339
users and BP global PR follows 919 users.
Figure
15:
Comparison
of
number
of
tweets
Hence, the differences between the two accounts are:
BP after the explosion occurred in Gulf of Mexico has been mostly tweeting
about the recovery of the disaster, BP global PR tweets mostly about the environment
and other interesting.
BP generates tweets in formal language, while BP global PR uses informal,
direct language to communicate with its followers.
The dominant media type of tweets for both accounts, are links to other
websites.
BP use less hashtags than BP global PR
0
2000
4000
6000
8000
10000
12000
BP BPglobalPr
10456
524

43.
35
BP has less than half followers than BP global PR.
BP follows fewer users than BP global PR does.
BP tweets more often than BP global PR, as it records double tweets in its
history.
Tweets more endorsed than BP’s.
According to their descriptions,

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5. DISCUSSION
“Twitter is a life’s work built in three tenets: minimize thinking around communication,
expose trends in local and global circles and spark interaction.”
-Jack Dorsey, CEO Twitter (Fitton, 2010: xvii)
The purpose of this chapter is to link ideas from the review of literature, with the output of
the research, in order to answer the final scale of the research question, which are finally the
most effective techniques and content, when a corporate tweets?
5.1 BP’s Twitter initial response
In overall, according to media commentaries BP was not prepared to deal with a disaster of
the scale of the Oil spill in Gulf of Mexico. On top of this, BP did not include Twitter
guidelines as part of its crisis communications plan. This was shown as, the first tweet after
the disaster was posted, one week after the explosion (27/04/10). According to a research that
examined 12 different crisis communications plans, none included a social media strategy
(Wenberg, 2013).

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In the meantime, consumers had been reacting and a ton of misinformation was spread across
the Twitter. During a crisis, a brand’s reputation is in the consumers’ hands. Thus, as BP had
been absent for one week from Twitter, it did not have the opportunity to defend its brand.
A crisis response demands, quickness and accuracy. It has been proved that Twitter has the
ability to disseminate updates quicker than any other media outlet to a large fraction of
stakeholders.
However, BP used Twitter as a tool of reputation repair. This was revealed by the fact, that
after the incidence several reputational tactics, as described by Coombs (figure 5) were
identified in Tweets. BP is trying to disseminate the efforts of restoring the Gulf of Mexico
(corrective action) and CSR projects that is currently handling (Reminder). Coombs has
explained that crisis is perpetual, therefore BP could have used via Twitter justification
strategy, i.e. minimize the amount of damage perceived.
5.2 The importance of followers:
As mentioned in the previous section BP global PR has 144570 followers, while BP has
53660. The more followers an account acquires, the more social authority it provides. “Like
any other ranking system, the higher you follower counts, the more people assume that you
are an expert in your field, or at least someone worth-following. It’s not valid but this is how
people think,” (Hayatt, 2013).
In addition, more followers extend the impact of a corporate Twitter account; or rather to say
the larger is the “followership” of a Corporate Twitter account, the quicker its ideas, mission
and vision spread. Moreover, the increased number of followers leads to increased sales and
to stronger brand name. A large number of followers promotes thought leadership and creates
more conversations regarding the brand.
In order to create a stronger network of followers, Corporate Twitter accounts should share
valuable content and avoid excessive promotion. Regarding CSR, especially organizations
that inevitably create negative externalities, should not provoke with big promises that could

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turn stakeholders against them. In the case of BP, the anti-BP account satirizes the motto: “BP
cares” and the campaign has the opposite result.
5.4 Composing a tweet
“While not everything can be conveyed in under 140 characters, the essence of twitter can;
expected the unexpected, whenever possible be the unexpected,” stated the CEO of Twitter
Jack Dorsey.
As seen in the previous chapter, BP counts half of the tweets than BP. However, BP global
PR is being endorsed more than BP, i.e. retweet and quoted as favorite. The following
diagram is exported from Topsy Analytics and it shows the timeline of tweets generated by
BP_America and BP global PR. Apparently, BP is tweeting in a constant basis, since the
crisis occurrence, while BP global PR is tweeting mostly on the anniversary of the oil spill.
Figure
16:
Timelie
of
BP_America
and
Bpglobalpr
tweets
(source:
Topsy)

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Therefore, it can be concluded that the amount and frequency of tweets is not a determinant
factor to increase the influence of a Twitter account.
On the other hand, the style of language used in Twitter plays a vital role on the influence of
tweets. BP global PR used mostly formal language and jokes. Twitter is mostly a platform of
personal conversation. The more funny, creative and clever the tweets are, the more retweets
and endorsements will gain, thus the more Twitter users will reach and the more impact will
create. Also, it is important to share interesting content, such as articles, videos and pictures.
Twitter measures trends. Therefore, another trick to gain more followers and be seen by more
Twitter users is to tweet about current trends and use the appropriate hashtag. After all, BP
global PR became popular in a time, when #oilspill was in the top trends, by tweeting
regarding the oil spill.

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6. CONCLUSION
Figure
17:
Satirical
illustration
of
Twitter
(source:
Guardian)
“I tweet, therefore I am”
- Unknown
6.1 Summary
To sum up, crisis is a defining moment of a company’s history. Crisis communications is the
dialogue of a company with its stakeholders during an event of a crisis. Social media have
heavily changed the way of this dialogue and have become a major communication channel
during a crisis. Particularly, Twitter has a dominant role in recent crises such as the Boston
Marathon Bombarding or the Katrina Hurricane. It provides the ability of quickly
disseminating breaking news, detect witnesses of a negative occurrence and discuss a crisis.
BP’s oil spill, was the first global crisis that involved social media discussion. It widely
believed that BP did not use Twitter effectively. However, an anti-BP activist account that
appeared after the tragedy in Gulf of Mexico managed to influence a large public.
This dissertation attempted to detect the main differences between BP’s Official Twitter
Account and anti- BP account. This was achieved by employing content analysis method. In

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details a codebook was established that conceptualize: date, message focus, style, media type
and reputation repair strategy (for BP’s Official Twitter Account). The sample of tweets was
gathered from Topsy.com, an independent archival platform. The sample included 70 tweets
generated by BP_America and 70 tweets generated by BP global PR, from the day of the
tragedy since today. The tweets were randomly selected.
After coding the variables, the results were recorded in Excel in order to produce graphic
illustrations, that would help coming up with results. After answering separately, each scale of
the most effective techniques and content that have been used by BP global PR and should
have also been used by BP in order to extent its Twitter influence are the following:
Increase the number of followers
Tweet about recent trends and use the appropriate hashtags in order to reach
more Twitter users
Use informal language in order to create personal conversations with the
public.
Quantity does not matter. However, excess promotion of the products and
services do have a negative impact
Generate creative content, in order to be retweeted and quoted as favorite
Share valuable multimedia content
6.2 Recommendations for future
researchers
Last December Twitter has launched a new service that allows every user to download a full
archive of his/her Account’s activity since the day that join Twitter. Therefore, if one is
interested to study older tweets, it would be useful to contact the company for full tweets

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archive. Besides, all the tweets generated by the company, were once available for public.
Hence, they are not confidential or private material.
What’s more, when selecting randomly a sample of tweets, even if the period is specify, the
variable “date” is no operational, as it finally does not provide any relevant information.
In addition, it is reckoned that SPSS interface is more appropriate than Microsoft Excel in
order to conduct a content analysis with a codebook, but it requires high-level statistical skills.
This is due to the fact that SPSS includes a wider variety of graphs and charts than Excel.
Also, SPSS has the ability to run graphs for subset, i.e. it allows coming up with conclusions
that combine more than two variables.

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