Firestorms: Modeling conflict diffusion and management strategies in online communities

This study aims to provide a better understanding of how organizations can manage public conflict and firestorms in social media spheres. We develop an agent-based simulation model of conflicts in firm-hosted online communities and find that a collaborating conflict management style characterized by high levels of cooperativeness and assertiveness helps to successfully handle conflict. However, the effectiveness of this collaborative style is highly dependent on contingency factors related to the participating individuals and the social structure within the community itself, such as the number of moderators and aggressors present in the community, their credibility, as well as the overall opinion of the community. Depending on these factors, collaborating and accommodating conflict management becomes more or less successful. Under some configurations it is even less effective than more competitive and assertive management styles. Therefore, to successfully handle conflict and restrain the escalation of a firestorm, organizations need to optimally adapt their conflict management style to varying conditions by considering individual-level and community-level characteristics.