Cultural Impediment or Reflection of Global Phenomenon: State of Social Media Crisis Preparedness in Singapore

Singapore has achieved fame as a hub of commerce, knowledge, and research and development in a fiercely competitive global environment. If there is an Achilles heel in Singapore's progress in this new economy, it would be its lack of crisis preparedness, particularly social media crisis (SMC) preparedness. Due to its lack of natural resources, and driven by the need to survive and progress in a fiercely competitive global environment, pragmatism has influenced the way Singapore operates, characterized by utilization of limited human resources to increase efficiency and profitability. As Singapore is a meritocratic society, the importance of diligence has been socialized from a young age as they ascribe to the fear of stagnation. This chapter argues that for all its much‐lauded competences, SMC preparedness among organizations in Singapore remains inadequate. In all, Singaporean organizations were very slow to take up using social media as a tool for customer relations and brand building.