Hashtags and Flash Floods
and Flu Shots, Oh My!
Adding Social Media to
the Public Health Toolkit
Agenda
• Introduction
• Case Study: VTResponse.com
• What is Social Media?
• Getting Started
• @InstantlyInform
• Questions & Answers
CASE STUDY: VTRESPONSE
Hurricane Katrina, August 2005
Waveland, MS
Twitter After Irene
A 2.0 solution to volunteer management in
the wake of Tropical Storm Irene that
connected thousands of people in need to
those willing to help.
OR
A place for people to connect.
Key Goals
• Consolidate
information
• Create a place to
connect
• Accessible to all
• Simple to use
Managing VTResponse
• Check Email, Twitter and Voicemail
• Review comments and forums
• Review VTExchange.org
• 17 individual town pages
• 12 individual town web pages
• 6 State of Vermont Sites
• 27 person contact list
• Traditional Media Sources
By the Numbers
• 938 posts
• 1,150 followers on Twitter
• 426, 686 total views
• 44, 688 views on August 31st, 2011
• 35,410 forum participants
WHAT IS SOCIAL MEDIA?
Social media is what you make it. It’s a
place to engage, to share, to learn and
to connect.
Key Tools for Public Health
Blog
• Membership required
• Users create profiles
• Can handle text, photos and videos
• Allows commenting, liking and sharing
• Who’s On?
• Requires membership to post
• All can read if profile is public
• 140 character limit
• Information can be re-shared rapidly
• Who’s On?
Blog
• No membership required
• Easy to set up, maintain and update
• Can handle almost limitless text and photo
• Autopost to Twitter and Facebook
GETTING STARTED
The Basics
Build your audience before you need it.
Manage the information.
Use fewer tools well, rather than all the tools poorly.
Create a system that is as automatic as possible.
Building Audience
Engagement is key.
• Identify key players
• Follow generously
• Create a conversation
Manage the Information
If you don’t share it, someone
else will.
• Clear, concise, original.
• Provide contact information for follow-up
• Seek user generated content
• Active, consistent participation
Launching Instantly Informed
@InstantlyInform
Thank You
• Greg Moore
• Tom Birkland
• Matt Sisto/Katy Kent
Questions/Comments