Fill your toolbox and "think like a ________ victim": social media in emergency management

There is no debate!

Social media channels, platforms, and tools are critical components of today's crisis communication tool box.

In today's environment, community expects your organization to connect with them through social media

platforms to provide them with information, explanation, resolution, and choice:

where they want it, when they want it

especially during times of crisis:

Is social media the most effective channel for your audience?

It is critical to clearly identify your target audiences and to understand which communication channel best suits their needs.

Consideration ought to be given to the identified audiences, the intended communication goal, and the best channel or tool utilized

for each audience group.

internal stakeholder

external stakeholder

community

victim

Remember….

One size does not fit all.

For demonstration purposes, consider the use of social media as a primary communication channel during an event such as a

motor vehicle accident.

This event is a vehicle collision on Southbound Highway 100 during the morning rush commute.

Southbound traffic on Highway 100 begins to slow, and backs up behind the collision. Eastbound traffic on Express B and Express C are also affected.

The driver of the yellow car is injured and is unconscious. The child passenger in the rear of the red vehicle is upset, scared, and crying.

The driver of the red car is worried about the driver of the yellow car and tries to render assistance, asking someone to mind their child in the meantime.

911

The driver of the green car who witnessed the crash, dials 911 to summon emergency assistance.

The driver of the white car who is now sitting at a standstill in traffic, retrieves their smartphone and opens their Twitter mobile application:

“#carcrash SB hwy 100 – at Express C traffic backing up #nightmarecommute #getinline”

This “tweet” which is now published is public information and available for consumption and sharing.

Questions for consideration:

What was the intention of the driver of the white car in publishing this information?

Who was the intended audience?

Is this information valuable?

To who?

As Twitter is commonly monitored by local media outlets, that “tweet” is picked up and repurposed by local radio stations:

“Hey everybody, there’s a car accident on southbound Highway 100 at the Express C – find an alternate route!”

Other motorists who are stuck in traffic and people who are at home, in their office, etc begin sharing this information on Twitter, and Facebook:

“Hey everybody, there’s a car accident on southbound Highway 100 at the Express C – wouldn’t go that way now”

The information of this accident continues to spread.

EXPLANATION

The sharing of the information of the crash has:

Provided EXPLANATION to the 5000 commuters stuck in traffic southbound Highway 100 between Express B and C.

The sharing of the information of the crash has:

CHOICE

Provided CHOICE to the 50,000 commuters currently southbound Highway 100 north or Express B.

These commuters now have the choice to exit onto Express A or B to avoid the collision.

The sharing of the information of the crash has:

Provided INFORMATION to the 100,000 commuters currently northbound Highway 100.

Perhaps, this information has also provided these commuters a sense of relief, knowing that they are not directly affected by the collision.

INFORMATION

The sharing of the information of the crash has:

To the other 300,000 people that are connected through broadcast and social media, this information is just “noise”.

This event or the related information has no direct impact on these people NOISE

NOISE

NOISE

NOISE

The single share of information about this event, originating in the form of a tweet has:

Provided EXPLANATION to 5000Provided CHOICE to 50,000Provided INFORMATION to 100,000Created NOISE to 300,00

From a metrics perspective, the reach of this information is relatively impressive with total conversation reach of 455,000.

In terms of the impact of this event, who matters most?

The reach of information through social media networks

Who matters most?

To the driver of the red car who is rendering aid to the unconscious driver of the yellow car. To the child passenger of the red card who is frightened and crying,

The conversation adds no significant value. While waiting for emergency services to arrive, the conversation occurring around them has little impact and does not change their immediate needs

In this motor vehicle collision, social media was a key tool in the sharing of related information. As demonstrated, it explained, provided choice, information, and created noise to over 400,000 users.

Did you notice on the first slide? One could argue, that this communication channel, a cell phone call to emergency responders is the most important communication occurring in this scenario.

Compared to a reach of over 400,000 users, this communication channel engages with only 2 users –the caller and the operator.

911

This example is solely intended to stimulate our thinking about the best communication channel for the appropriate audience.

With the continual rise of social media and the ongoing advances in technology, communicators will need to continually

add to their crisis communications tool box.

The role of Social Media in Emergency Management will undoubtedly continue to strengthen.

But when thinking of specific target audiences, give thoughtful consideration to the other tools in the