Dutch police,

crisiscommunication and

social media

Universiteit Twente

Faculty of Behavioural, Management & Social Sciences

March 25th 2015

Who am I?

• Natalie Hensen

• Sociology MA

• Loving social media!

What I did/do...

2004-2008• Policy officer

Library Leidschendam-Voorburg

2008-2015• Advisor digital media

Police Utrecht/Midden-Nederland

Now• Online communications advisor

Conclusion Communication

Online communication at the

police

• It all started somewhere in 2009…

• Now > 1.800 police accounts on Twitter

and Facebook

• Connect with citizens

Online communication at the

police

• Workshops Twitter/Facebook

• Digital awareness

• Do’s and don’ts

This went viral

This too…

And this…

Dilemmas

• How to choose platforms?

• What about sleeping accounts?

• Which approach fits the police better:

instrumental or expressive approach?

Social media & crises

• Which crisis or big incident in the world in

the last year can you name?

• In what way did social media influence the

crisis?

2Social media & crisis

communication

A few Dutch examples…

• Project X Haren

• Missing boys Ruben & Julian

• Intruder in news studio

Project X Haren

Missing boys Ruben & Julian

Intruder in news studio

Intruder in news studio

Social media & crisis

communication

• It’s about trust

• Building a relationship with the public

comes in handy in crises

• The speed is a challenge

• 80% of a crisis = communication

Social media & crisis

communication137,000

Crisis communication at the

police

• Crisis communications team – 2012

• Different internal roles

Crisis communication at the

police

• Analist

• Advisor

• Spokesperson

• Logistics experts

• Editor

• Q&A specialist

• Social media specialist

Crisis communication at the

police

Analist:

• Information

• Signification

• Action perspective

Crisis communication at the

police

• Crisis communications team – 2012

• Different internal roles

• Contra speakers

• Unit CCTs

Interview

• Dick van Gooswilligen, head

Crisis Communications Team

• Marco Leeuwerink, team leader

Crisis Communications Team and senior

communications advisor innovation

Interview

To conclude

• Immense impact of social media on crises

• The online world is always changing

• The governmental organisations need to

find a way to deal with that

BONUS

To really feel what impact social media has on

a crisis:

• Take one and follow it for a while

• What would you have done differently (in the

communication)?

Questions?

Resources

Amongst others:

• Twitter/Instagram/YouTube/Flickr

• Telegraaf.nl

• Nltimes.nl

• NOS.nl

• RTLXL.nl

• https://timedotcom.files.wordpress.com/

• http://socialmediadna.nl/online-onderzoek-mh17/

• http://www.omroepwest.nl/nieuws/23-07-2014/sociale-media-vol-met-steunbetuigingen-om-

nabestaanden-slachtoffers-mh17

• http://www.rijksoverheid.nl/documenten-en-publicaties/rapporten/2013/03/08/twee-werelden-

hoofdrapport-commissie-project-x-haren.html