Social Media Turbulence: Investigating Safety and Security Risks of Cabin Crew Social Media Behavior on Instagram - Case Finnair Oyj
Stenbäck-From, Sabina (2024)
2024
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2024092425595
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2024092425595
Tiivistelmä
This research-oriented bachelor’s thesis, commissioned by Finnair Oyj, aimed to gather information on Finnair’s cabin crew's social media behavior on Instagram and how it might affect safety and security in commercial aviation. The thesis also aimed to find out if Finnair’s current social media guidelines serve their purpose, especially in safety and security-related matters.
The commissioner was presented during the second chapter where also the company’s cabin crew role, responsibilities, training, social media guidelines, and phone policies were described.
The theoretical framework focused on gathering information on the topic through secondary data. The theoretical framework focused on describing the aviation industry, aviation safety and security, social media, and social media behavior and how their impact affects human behavior. The material was gathered through online material such as academic articles, aviation news articles, and Finnair’s internal material.
The research for the thesis was conducted through qualitative research gathering primary data from an empirical observation, an online survey, and e-interviews during spring 2024. The observation was conducted on Instagram during two different months during winter 2023 and 2024. The online survey was targeted at Finnair’s cabin crew consisting of 25 questions concerning the current social media guidelines and social media behavior of cabin crew. The online survey was open for two weeks at the end of April 2024. The e-interviews targeted managers from Finnair Communications, Cabin Safety, and the Security Department. All e-interviews were similar to each other with open-ended questions, following a similar pattern to the online survey. The respondents were given nearly two weeks to answer during the shift of April and May 2024.
The results from the research show that social media guidelines are good and practical, but they need to be reviewed, updated, clarified, and possibly changed to more strict rules. Based on the research results and findings, the cabin crew's social media behavior on Instagram (and overall) needs to be further investigated and monitored internally.
To conclude, since this is a sensitive and important matter in a safety-critical environment of commercial aviation, the discussion on the topic needs to continue internally to determine where improvements need to be made. Social media has a huge impact on both human online and offline behavior and by reviewing the research findings while keeping this in mind, suitable solutions will be found for future guidelines and material regarding in-house social media guidelines and social media behavior. Furthermore, a set of suggestions for the future was introduced to the commissioner in the concluding discussion.
The commissioner was presented during the second chapter where also the company’s cabin crew role, responsibilities, training, social media guidelines, and phone policies were described.
The theoretical framework focused on gathering information on the topic through secondary data. The theoretical framework focused on describing the aviation industry, aviation safety and security, social media, and social media behavior and how their impact affects human behavior. The material was gathered through online material such as academic articles, aviation news articles, and Finnair’s internal material.
The research for the thesis was conducted through qualitative research gathering primary data from an empirical observation, an online survey, and e-interviews during spring 2024. The observation was conducted on Instagram during two different months during winter 2023 and 2024. The online survey was targeted at Finnair’s cabin crew consisting of 25 questions concerning the current social media guidelines and social media behavior of cabin crew. The online survey was open for two weeks at the end of April 2024. The e-interviews targeted managers from Finnair Communications, Cabin Safety, and the Security Department. All e-interviews were similar to each other with open-ended questions, following a similar pattern to the online survey. The respondents were given nearly two weeks to answer during the shift of April and May 2024.
The results from the research show that social media guidelines are good and practical, but they need to be reviewed, updated, clarified, and possibly changed to more strict rules. Based on the research results and findings, the cabin crew's social media behavior on Instagram (and overall) needs to be further investigated and monitored internally.
To conclude, since this is a sensitive and important matter in a safety-critical environment of commercial aviation, the discussion on the topic needs to continue internally to determine where improvements need to be made. Social media has a huge impact on both human online and offline behavior and by reviewing the research findings while keeping this in mind, suitable solutions will be found for future guidelines and material regarding in-house social media guidelines and social media behavior. Furthermore, a set of suggestions for the future was introduced to the commissioner in the concluding discussion.