In Case of Emergency, Read This Blog

In Case Of Emergency, Read Blog

A Citizen’s Eye View of Public Preparedness

New Report Offers Officials 11 Tips For Using Social Media In Emergencies; Survey Indicates Public Health & Safety Professionals Can Do “Considerably More” On Communications

July 20th, 2009 · 1 Comment

I wanted to bring your attention a very interesting and useful study on the role of social media in crises. The newly-released report, “Expert Round Table on Social Media and Risk Communication During Times of Crises: Strategic Challenges and Opportunities,” comes out of a day-long workshop in March at the American Public Health Association (APHA) headquarters in Washington, D .C . Participants included thought leaders and practitioners who are engaged in public health, emergency response, and crisis communications.

Co-sponsors of the Round Table and report are the APHA; Booz Allen Hamilton; George Washington University’s School of Public Health And Health Services; the International Association Of Emergency Managers; and the National Association of Government Communicators. The study’s editors are Booz, Allen’s Tim Tinker and the APHA’s David Fouse.

The report highlights results of web survey that found “public health and safety professionals can do considerably more to move forward towards a communications framework that encompasses all effective communication vehicles, including social media”. There is also a narrative summary of the day, suggestions on how to establish best practices, and a social media primer. In addition, the report offers 11 tips for officials using social media during emergencies:

* Make social media efforts message driven, not channel driven.

ƒ* Embrace every possible teaching momentƒ so that your social media networks can grow. Tap into all available resources. ƒ Do you have a large cadre of volunteers? Consider training them as social media ambassadors.

* Keep messages brief and pertinent. People are not really reading, they are scanning.

* Make sure you can receive public input. Remember that social media is not just about you talking to the public; it also is about them talking to you and to each other.

* Use social media to support a unified message. Instead of creating a new message for social media, use social media to support your existing message in a larger communications model.

* Have a Plan B. Suppose phone lines are jammed and/or computers are down?

* Forge partnerships for sharing methods and messages. Federal agencies, for example, need to reach out to the private sector, and vice versa.

* Focus on people when formulating your communication plan. Networks of people will get work done, even when there is no electricity.

* Avoid elitism or the belief that people in charge know more and the general public is prone to misbehavior.

* New technologies are not simply new types of media with which to do the same old things. These new media signal a shift in thinking about how we communicate with our audiences.

* Avoid “shiny new object syndrome” (being quick to adopt every new social media that emerges…as soon as it emerges).

If you would like a PDF copy of the 17-page report, have questions or would like further information about the Round Table, you can contact Tim Tinker at tinker_timothy@bah.com or 703-902-4519.

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Tags: Preparedness 2.0 · Preparedness Reports

1 response so far ↓

  • 1 Dave B // Jul 21, 2009 at 8:17 am

    This blog was one of the first uses of ’social media’ in disaster scenarios.

    http://www.afap.org/apcedi/

    I used to work for these guys, and i have to say it was a really innovative, and outrageously simple device that helped get info around the Pacific Island nations quickly.

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