crisis communication 2.0: social media in emergency preparedness & response
DESCRIPTION
Presented at the Medical Reserve Corps Region I/II Summit (November 17, 2011)TRANSCRIPT
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Social Media In Emergency Preparedness & Response
Presented 11.17.11 To MRC Region I & II Summit
Arielle Slam & Alyson Cobb
Learn about social media and current trends.
Learn about prominent tools through case studies of social media being used to engage the public during a disaster.
Understand the benefits and barriers of social media.
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“Social media are the electronic tools, technologies, and applications that facilitate interactive communication and content exchange.”
http://youtu.be/3SuNx0UrnEo
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Social networking sites Blogs Microblogs Gadgets
Buttons & Badges Widgets Apps
Multimedia sharing sites Geotagging Virtual worlds Wikis Text messaging RSS Feeds Social bookmarking
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Wall Info Photos
Like Button
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Rapid message dissemination
Accessible when traditional media and resources were not
Provided reassurance to friends and family
Crowdsourcing
Could spread misinformation
Collective error correction & verification
Casualties made public before families knew
Benefits Drawbacks
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Updated frequently Genre, professional, personal Most recent entry first Two way conversation Easier to update than a website Address special audiences
Functional needs Special languages
60% of bloggers note they are blogging more than when they started because it has proven to be of value to their profession. State of Blogosphere 2011
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“The only way we all have to get good information here is for those who have it to share it. We relied on others to give us updates when they had info and we do the same for others.”
–San Diego Resident
“Most of the news media…are utterly clueless about anything in rural areas. They constantly gave out bogus information, like locations and directions that made no sense at all.”
- rural area resident
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Address special audiences Functional needs
Special languages
Localized information
No web development skills needed
Fast
Seen as most reliable source of new media
Many competing blogs
Time intensive
Benefits Drawbacks
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Username
Hashtag
Tweet/Retweet
Info
location
Similar to traditional blogs, except that content length is limited
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“There’s some evidence that as landlines and power supplies went down…people still used their mobile phones to stay in touch via Facebook and Twitter.”
Observation tool
Short messages
Easy to share links & promote website Viral messaging
Extensive networks
Easily adopted in crisis situation Good redundancy channel
Easy integration with other technology SMS friendly
White noise
Short-term visibility
Limited profile information
Benefits Barriers
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Buttons and badges
Widgets
Apps
Graphically links that share information about campaigns and causes online
<!-- BUTTON EMBED CODE STARTS HERE --><a href="http://emergency.cdc.gov/socialmedia/zombies_blog.asp?s_cid=emergency_002" title="Get A Kit, Make A Plan, Be Prepared. emergency.cdc.gov"><imgsrc="http://www.cdc.gov/images/campaigns/emergency/zombies1_300x250.jpg" style="width:300px; height:250px; border:0px;" alt="Get A Kit, Make A Plan, Be Prepared. emergency.cdc.gov" /></a><!-- BUTTON EMBED CODE ENDS HERE -->
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Easier functionality than internet on phones
Apps can reach traditional non-internet users
Facilitates unified message sharing
Can encourage viral message dissemination
Can be used to gather information from the ground
Added value to audience Entertaining
Visually appealing
Apps limited to those with smart phones
Apps often require a developer to build
Apps & badges short life span
Benefits Drawbacks
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Public prefers visual information
Can use and share existing media
Can easily make existing media available to your audience
Time to produce videos
Limited interaction
Benefits Drawbacks
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Location-based platforms
Typically on mobile phones & smart phones
Organizes and presents information specific to your geographic location
Nearby places & resources
People nearby
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Limit information to geographic area of interest
Adds additional element to information
Applications for response efforts
Privacy & safety considerations
Benefits Drawbacks
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Population of ~1,080,000
During Irene, Fairfax County used:
Blog
CEAN (alert system)
Website
YouTube
Flickr
Ask Fairfax
iPhone and Android apps
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Launched emergency information blog
During Irene:
61 posts
50,668 views
77 comments
During Irene:
48 posts
335,000 post views
336 shares
318 likes
91 comments
380 new fans
During Irene:
60 Tweets
333 retweets
292 new followers
FACEBOOK TWITTER
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Fairfax County’s text and e-mail alert system
During Irene:
Approximately 3,000 new subscribers
YOUTUBE FLICKR
During Irene:
5 videos posted
1,863 video views
Media outlets posted videos on their sites = further reach
During Irene:
11 pictures posted
5,766 views
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County’s website is mobile-friendly
Developed a special mobile emergency home page
Developed iPhone and Android apps
During Irene:
289 app dowloads
Many benefits to social media
Fast, wide, decentralized
It may feel overwhelming, but its doable
If not on social media, start exploring as personal user.
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Consider relevance of social media to your goals.
Set aside a few hours to a day to learn tool(s) and create an account. Start with a personal account.
Create a plan for how you will use tools. Administrators
Content
policy
Arielle Slam
JSI Research & Training Institute
603.573.3341
http://linkd.in/ArielleSlam
Alyson Cobb
JSI Research & Training Institute
603.573.3319
http://linkd.in/AlysonCobb
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Terdiman, Daniel. Study: Wikipedia as Accurate as Brittanica (2005) http://news.cnet.com/Study-Wikipedia-as-accurate-as-Britannica/2100-1038_3-5997332.html
Tinker, Timothy, et al. Expert Round Table on Social Media and Risk Communication During Times of Crisis: Strategic Challenges and Opportunities. (2009) http://www.socialmediaandtechnology.com/
Krimsky, Sheldon. Risk communication in the internet age: The rise of disorganized skepticism. (2007) Environmental Hazards. http://www.elsevier.com/locate/hazards
Sutton, Jeannette, et al. Backchannels on the Front Lines: Emergent Uses of Social Media in the 2007 Southern California Wildfires. (2008) Proceedings of the 5th International ISCRAM Conference
Guion, Deirdre, et al. Weathering the Storm: A Social Marketing Perspective on Disaster Preparedness and Response with Lessons from Hurricane Katrina. (2007) American Marketing Association, Vol.26 (1).
Palmer, Jason. Emergency 2.0 is coming to a website near you: the web spells a sea of change for crisis management. How should emergency services respond? (2008) New Scientist 198.2654 http://www.newscientist.com.ezpr.oxy.lib.umb.edu
New tools a boon: Public health leaders using social media to convey emergencies. (2009) The Nation’s Health, American Public Health Association www.thenationshealth.org
Underwood, Sarah. Improving Disaster Management. (2010) communications of the Acm. Vol.53. no.2 DOI: 10.1145/1646353.1646362
Palen, Leysia. The Emergence of Online Widescale Interaction in Unexpected Events: Assistance, Alliance & Retreat (2008) CSCW, University of Colorado, Boulder
A National Survey of Social Media Use in State Government: Friends, Followers, and Feeds.NASCIO (2010): http://www.nascio.org/publications/documents/NASCIO-SocialMedia.pdf
References