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SAVER TechNote: Emergency Manager and First Responder Use of Social Media Updates [July 2017]
"Social media platforms connect, entertain and inform millions of users every day. Individuals can instantly create, upload and share messages, images, videos and other types of content through social networks on a variety of web-based and mobile platforms. Recently introduced social media features and updates present unique opportunities for first responders not only to disseminate agency content and information, but also to facilitate operations by harnessing the publicly available data on these platforms. Comprehensive, up-to-date utilization of social media can engage and educate communities, ensure effective emergency communications and enhance incident tracking, mitigation and response. In 2013 and 2014, SAVER published a report and an application note detailing the basics of the social media platforms then available and their uses for emergency response. Understanding these platforms--and the features, releases and updates that have emerged since--can help emergency managers monitor and respond to incidents and other activities. Agencies might also increase their social media effectiveness by training their staff to handle the potentially overwhelming social media activity triggered by an incident, and by establishing a social media presence prior to incidents. Cultivating a social media audience and gaining a reputation as a go-to source for timely, reliable information can help emergency responders build trusting relationships in communities, which could lead to vital cooperation during an emergency."
System Assessment and Validation for Emergency Responders (SAVER); United States. Department of Homeland Security
2017-07
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LLIS Practice Note: Emergency Public Information: Mecosta County, Michigan's Use of Social Media for Communicating with the News Media and Officials During Disasters
"The Mecosta County, Michigan, Emergency Management director used social media to share images and video of damage caused by flooding in April 2011. County officials and the news media followed Mecosta County's social media platforms to get real-time damage information from the director."
Lessons Learned Information Sharing (LLIS)
2012-01-27
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Using Social Media to Communicate with the Occupants of Large Residential Buildings During Fire Emergencies
"In 2011, the occupants of a residential high-rise building in downtown Austin brought a life-safety concern to the attention of the Austin Fire Department (AFD). The problem was that AFD has limited ability to communicate with the occupants of large residential buildings during fire emergencies. Using the descriptive method of research, a five-month pilot program utilizing Twitter to communicate with the occupants of three large residential buildings during fire emergencies was developed and implemented.The pilot program was designed to answer these research questions concerning the use of social media to communicate with the occupants of large residential buildings during fire emergencies; how effective is it, what difficulties are associated with it and how well do AFD members and the building occupants accept it? In addition, research was also conducted to discover if and how other fire departments utilize social media for communicating with occupants of large residential buildings. The purpose of this research was to determine if social media could be utilized by AFD to effectively communicate with the occupants of large residential buildings during fire emergencies. The results indicated that Twitter can successfully be utilized for this purpose. However, there were several difficulties identified with this form of communication, both human-related and technological.In order to successfully continue the AFD Twitter program, recommendations were made to increase the number of building occupants participating in the program, reassign the responsibility of sending the messages and reduce the number of messages sent during an emergency."
National Fire Academy
Watson, Chris
2012
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Innovative Uses of Social Media in Emergency Management
"Information sharing between public safety organizations and communities is critical in emergency situations, especially large-scale events such as floods, earthquakes, and hurricanes. In recent years, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), 'Social media and collaborative technologies have become critical components of emergency preparedness, response, and recovery.' Through the use of social media, members of the public who witness incidents can provide public safety organizations with timely, geographic-based information. This information can be used by decision-makers in planning response strategies, deploying resources in the field, and, in turn, providing updated and accurate information to the public. [...] The purpose of this report is to provide an overview of current and innovative social media strategies used by public safety organizations to engage interactively with the public during all phases of emergency situations. The information presented here was obtained from an Internet-based literature review and case study interviews conducted on-site and by telephone."
United States. Department of Homeland Security
2013-09
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Privacy Impact Assessment for the FEMA Operational Use of Publicly Available Social Media for Situational Awareness
"The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Office of Response and
Recovery (ORR) has launched an initiative using publicly available social media for situational
awareness purposes in support of the FEMA Administrator's responsibility under the Homeland
Security Act
and to assist the DHS National Operations Center (NOC)
by helping to shape its
mission to provide situational awareness during emergency and disaster situations, during which,
FEMA is a primary source of information. The initiative assists FEMA's efforts to provide
situational awareness for federal and international partners as well as state, local, tribal, and
territorial (SLTT) governments. FEMA's Watch Centers collect information from publicly
available traditional media, such as newspapers and television news, and new media sources,
such as social media websites and blogs for situational awareness purposes. While this initiative
is not designed to actively collect personally identifiable information (PII), FEMA is conducting
this Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) because FEMA's Watch Centers may collect, maintain,
and disseminate limited amounts of PII 'in extremis' situations to prevent the loss of life or serious
bodily harm."
United States. Department of Homeland Security
2016-03-10
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Social Media in Emergency Management: Using Conferences as Safe Exercise Opportunities
"During the weekend of Friday, March 1 through Sunday, March 3, 2013 California Volunteers, Anaheim CERT [Community Emergency Response Team] and a team of Virtual Operation Support Team (VOST) volunteers helped to conduct a social media exercise during the California State CERT Conference. There were 129 distinct twitter handles in use during the conference on the #CalCERT hashtag for twitter, which represents approximately 32% of the attendees. The conference exercise produced the following social media activity: 954 posts, 131,475 reach and 822,917 timeline deliveries. The importance of creating safe exercise opportunities in a live social media environment was the key lessoned learned. Repeated exercises in the future should structure tasks based on behavioral measures and provide a team orientation and briefing prior to delving into the online exercise environment."
United States. Federal Emergency Management Agency
2013?
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LLIS Lesson Learned: Emergency Public Information: Using Social Media to Disseminate Updated Information During Incident Responses
Taken from the Summary: "Public information officers (PIOs) should consider utilizing social media during incidents to disseminate updated information about operations to response personnel as well as to the general public."
Lessons Learned Information Sharing (LLIS)
2011-02-04
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LLIS Practice Note: Emergency Public Information: Montgomery County, Maryland, Fire and Rescue's Use of Social Media to Engage the Community After Consecutive Snowstorms
"The Montgomery County, Maryland, Fire and Rescue Service (MCFRS) used Facebook, Twitter, and a blog to request that the community uncover fire hydrants buried in snow after consecutive February 2010 winter storms. MCFRS personnel used social media to share information with, and provide guidance to, the community. This effort resulted in the effective participation of the community in recovery operations after the snowstorms."
Lessons Learned Information Sharing (LLIS)
2012-02-17
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First Responders Communities of Practice Virtual Social Media Working Group - Community Engagement Guidance and Best Practices [Beta Version 1.1]
"Social media and collaborative technologies have become critical components of emergency preparedness, response, and recovery. From the international response efforts after major tsunamis to hurricane recovery in major U.S. cities, officials now turn to social media technologies to share information and connect with citizens during all phases of a crisis. Implementing these new technologies, however, requires that responding agencies adopt new communication strategies and engagement methods. Recognizing the need to address these challenges, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Science and Technology Directorate (DHS S&T) established a virtual social media working group (VSMWG). The mission of the VSMWG is to provide recommendations to the emergency preparedness and response community on the safe and sustainable use of social media technologies before, during, and after emergencies. Drawn from a cross-section of subject matter experts from federal, tribal, territorial, state, and local responders from across the United States, VSMWG members are establishing and collecting best practices and solutions that can be leveraged by responders throughout the nation's emergency response community. Below is a list of agencies to which the VSMWG members belong. [...] The VSMWG developed this document with input from the public safety community through online engagement hosted on the DHS First Responder Communities of Practice portal and through online discussions via other social media channels between February and August of 2011. It is intended for use by all public safety disciplines and all types of agencies to better understand and utilize social media and other Web-based tools without having to 'reinvent the wheel' or spend hours searching for examples or policy templates or use cases. This document provides a high-level introduction to social media and its benefits for public safety, examples and best practices from agencies already using social media, and serves as a starting point for developing an agency's detailed social media strategy. The VSMWG has also developed a Next Steps document as follow up to this Social Media Strategy, which provides considerations and detailed next steps for public safety agencies on developing and implementing social media."
United States. Department of Homeland Security. Science and Technology Directorate
2012-01-18
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Social Media and Disasters: Current Uses, Future Options, and Policy Considerations [September 6, 2011]
"The development of new technologies that have emerged since the mid-1990s has led to Internet-based applications known as 'social media' that enable people to interact and share information through media that were non-existent or widely unavailable 15 years ago. Examples of social media include blogs, chat rooms, discussion forums, wikis, YouTube Channels, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Social media can be accessed by computer, tablets, smart and cellular phones, and mobile phone text messaging (SMS). In the last five years social media have played an increasing role in emergencies and disasters. Social media sites rank as the fourth most popular source to access emergency information. They have been used by individuals and communities to warn others of unsafe areas or situations, inform friends and family that someone is safe, and raise funds for disaster relief. Facebook supports numerous emergency-related organizations, including Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (ISCRAM), The Humanitarian Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) Project, as well as numerous universities with disaster-related programs. The use of social media for emergencies and disasters may be conceptualized as two broad categories. First, social media can be used somewhat passively to disseminate information and receive user feedback via incoming messages, wall posts, and polls. To date, this is how most emergency management organizations, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), use social media. A second approach involves the systematic use of social media as an emergency management tool."
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Lindsay, Bruce R.
2011-09-06
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Every Soldier a Messenger: Using Social Media in the Contemporary Operating Environment
From the thesis abstract: "Social media has become an additional element within the operational environment within which nearly anyone with an Internet connection can participate. The speed at which participants can add content, truthful or not, to that battle space has forced the Army to change the way it has traditionally approached social media. Information age military theorists have postulated that high speed computing and ubiquitous network connectivity, key components of social media capabilities, would initiate a revolution in military affairs. While social media capabilities do not provide information superiority, they have empowered individuals to more effectively share content and consequently influence the narrative of a conflict. Also, social media capabilities have provided a means for individuals and small groups to more effectively synchronize actions, even in the absence of an authoritative leader. Joint and Army doctrine related to Information Operations has sparingly addressed social media capabilities but has provided the appropriate philosophy for integrating these tools. During the events of the Arab Spring in 2011 and other uprisings, anti-government protesters in Egypt, Iran, and Tunisia have demonstrated how social media can enhance the spread of the narrative and allow for protesters to synchronize their efforts. Also, a pair of examples from the United States military's experience in Afghanistan has demonstrated opportunities for improvement. This monograph examines the evidence from recent conflicts and describes three big ideas related to social media capabilities that emerge from the evidence of recent conflicts. First, the military needs better tools to understand, visualize, and describe how social media capabilities impact the information environment. Second, the military must improve its tactics, techniques, and procedures in integrating social media capabilities into multiple lines of effort in order to seize the initiative with respect to the narrative of a conflict. Third, the military must find ways to decentralize the official use of social media in the operational environment by empowering individual soldiers and allowing small units to synchronize their actions. Decentralizing its approach to social media by making every soldier a messenger would allow the Army to seize the initiative in this increasingly important part of the operational environment."
U.S. Army Command and General Staff College
Wille, Dennis G.
2012-05-11
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Lessons Learned: Social Media and Hurricane Sandy
"Social media and collaborative technologies have become critical components of emergency preparedness, response, and recovery. From the international response efforts in major tsunamis to hurricane response and recovery in major U.S. cities, many government officials now turn to social media technologies to share information and connect with citizens during all phases of a crisis. Implementing these new technologies, however, requires that responding agencies adopt new communication strategies and engagement methods. Recognizing the need to address these challenges, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Science and Technology Directorate (DHS S&T) established the Virtual Social Media Working Group (VSMWG) in December 2010. The mission of the VSMWG is to provide guidance and best practices to the emergency preparedness and response community on the safe and sustainable use of social media technologies before, during, and after emergencies. Drawn from a cross section of subject matter experts from federal, tribal, territorial, state, and local responders from across the United States, VSMWG members are establishing and collecting best practices and solutions that can be leveraged by public safety officials and responders throughout the nation's emergency response community. Below is a list of agencies to which the VSMWG members belong. [...] The VSMWG developed this document with input from the public safety community through monthly meetings, online engagement hosted on the DHS First Responder Communities of Practice portal and through virtual discussions via other social media channels between November 2012 and April 2013. This report serves as a follow-up to all of the previously published VSMWG documents, including the Social Media Strategy, Next Steps: Social Media for Emergency Response, and Community Engagement and Social Media Best Practices. This document provides an overview on how social media was used in preparation for, in response to, and in recovery from Hurricane Sandy ('Sandy') in late October 2012. It also discusses processes identified by the first responder community as best practices; presents examples, themes in applications, and lessons learned; identifies gaps in technology, process, and/or policy; and offers points requiring further discussion."
United States. Department of Homeland Security. Science and Technology Directorate
2013-06
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Next Steps: Social Media for Emergency Response: Virtual Social Media Working Group and DHS First Responders Group, January 2012
"This document serves as a follow‐up and supporting document to the VSMWG's [Virtual
Social Media Working Group] 'Social Media Strategy.' While the Social Media Strategy provides an introduction to social media, its benefits for public safety, and examples and best practices, this document provides considerations and detailed next steps for public safety agencies developing and implementing social media. The VSMWG developed this document with input from the public safety community through online engagement hosted on the DHS First Responder Communities of Practice portal and through online discussions via other social media channels. It is intended for use by all public safety disciplines and all types of agencies to better understand and utilize social media and other Web‐based tools without having to 'reinvent the wheel' or spend hours searching for examples or policy templates or guidance. This document provides considerations and best practices for the emergency response field in the development of a social media program. The purpose of this document is to: [1] Provide guidance to public safety agencies developing social media strategies and programs; [2] Discuss challenges and considerations related to social media specific for agency use; and [3] Provide best practices and policy examples for inclusion in agency strategies."
United States. Department of Homeland Security
2012-01
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Use of Social Media as a Tool for Community Based Safety Education in the Stony Hill Rural Fire Department Response District
"This applied research project explores the application of social media methods and platforms to fire service's community risk reduction communications with the public. The problem is the Stony Hill Rural Fire Department is not active in community risk reduction initiatives within its response district. The purpose of this research is to identify social media platforms to use as an outreach tool for community safety education and associated programs. This descriptive research is accomplished through a literature review and analysis of a feedback instrument to answer the following research questions: 1. What is social media? 2. How is social media used in non-public safety organizations? 3. How are other emergency response organizations using social media to improve community outreach activities with their communities? 4. What social media formats may be used to improve Stony Hill Rural Fire Department's community oriented safety initiatives? The research revealed a direct relationship between the corporate use of social media in marketing and the fire service's goal of public safety education. The commonality identified is customer engagement and maintenance of a relationships. The researcher found that the methodologies used in the corporate world have a direct application in the fire service. The research recommended that the Stony Hill Rural Fire Department employ the use of social media platforms to enhance its community risk reduction initiatives in its fire protection district."
National Fire Academy
Rich, A. C., Jr.
2011-01
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Facebook and the Fire Department: Who is Using It and How?
"The problem was that the Payson Fire Department (PFD) did not have the ability to quickly disseminate current and accurate information over the Internet to the public. This resulted in many lost opportunities to inform and educate the public on fire department activities, emergency responses and major disasters. The purpose of this research was to see if and how other fire departments used online social media then use that information to help improve the way the Payson Fire Department used information technology to better inform and educate citizens. Descriptive research was used to answer questions on how the Town of Payson currently managed the use of online social media, and if and how other American fire departments managed online social media networking. Research was conducted by an interview of the Town of Payson information technology director and a nationwide survey of 216 American fire departments. The results of this research were a clear understanding of how the Town of Payson and the Payson Fire Department managed online social media and better understanding of if and how fire departments around the nation used online social media. Recommendations were made for the Payson Fire Department to educate its employees on the risks and potential consequences of posting work-related material on social media websites, to develop policies addressing the use of social media in the workplace and to commit the necessary human and financial resources to manage public education and information in the online social media environment."
National Fire Academy
Bramble, Daniel
2011-03?
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SAVER Application Note: Social Media for Emergency Responders [March 2014]
"Social media are web-based networks that allow users to communicate and interact with family, friends, colleagues, community groups, and government organizations for the purpose of sharing information and multimedia content. Use of these communications tools has been on the rise within the emergency responder community over the past several years. The benefits range from an ongoing dialog with the public that can aid in more cooperation and resiliency during actual emergencies to crime solving based on input from eye witnesses in the community. [...] Many emergency responder agencies may hesitate to establish a social media presence in their jurisdictions due to concerns regarding network security, privacy, and misuse of information. Agencies may also lack staff resources with the familiarity and experience using social media as a valid communication tool. All of these factors can cause a certain level of mistrust of the technology and its potential uses in government. The purpose of this application note is to provide an overview of current social media tools and networks, how social media is used by emergency responders, and the benefits and challenges inherent in social media use. It should be noted that the set of tools and networks available grows and shrinks--one site may suddenly disappear or lose popularity, while others gain popularity. Information used in this application note was gathered from Internet research and a review of literature on the subject of social media use in public safety agencies."
System Assessment and Validation for Emergency Responders (SAVER); United States. Department of Homeland Security
2014-03
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Collective Intelligence in Emergency Management: Social Media's Emerging Role in the Emergency Operations Center
"The problem was that the Novato Fire District did not utilize social media technology to gather or share intelligence during Emergency Operations Center activations. The purpose of this applied research project was to recommend a social media usage program for the Novato Fire District's Emergency Operations Center. Descriptive methodology, literature review, two personal communications and a statistical sampling of fire agencies utilizing facebook supported the research questions. The research questions included: 1) What were collective intelligence and social media? 2) How was social media used by individuals and organizations during events and disasters? 3)How many fire agencies maintained a facebook page and used them to distribute emergency information? and 4) Which emergency management social media programs should be recommended for the Novato Fire District's Emergency Operations Center? The procedures included two data collection experiments, one a statistical sampling of United States fire agencies using facebook, to support the literature review and research questions. This research is one of the first Executive Fire Officer Applied Research Projects that addressed this emerging subject. The results found the public has a sociological need to gather and share information, a desire to help after a disaster, increased public accessibility to social media technology and an expectation that government agencies provide information. The results also found few fire agencies maintained a facebook presence and even fewer distributed post-disaster information. These results supported the recommendation to adopt a social media program for the Novato Fire District's Emergency Operations Center."
National Fire Academy
Nickel, Eric D.
2010-12
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Modern Social Media and Social Revolutions
From the thesis abstract: "The emergence of social media platforms as a means of communication and information sharing marks a fundamental change to how societies interact. This new form of media played a formative role in the organization of mass uprisings and demonstrations known as the 'Arab Spring' that took place in the Middle East and North Africa in 2011. The study draws data from research in social revolution, social network theory, and mass communications to develop a new model to explain social media's function in the organization and execution of social revolutionary activities. The model integrates DeFronzo's five components of social revolution with Barabasi's social network theory. Shirky and Roy's social media engagement work to explain interaction between the separate groups. The study applies data from the 2011 Egyptian Revolution to test the model. Findings from this research show the model sufficiently identifies social media use across a wide range of groups within a society and maps their respective interaction between online social networks and the occurrence of physical events such as mass demonstrations and similar political unrest. Given limitations in respect to time and the complex variables associated with social problems within such a large scale, this study is unable to definitively predict the extent to which certain groups are likely to respond within the social domain as well as at the state level. This study provides an acceptable theoretical model to serve as the basis for future research in social revolutionary activities."
U.S. Army Command and General Staff College
Mayer, Brian L.
2011-12-16
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Written Statement of Craig Fugate, Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, Subcommittee on Disaster Recovery and Intergovernmental Affairs: 'Understanding the Power of Social Media as a Communication Tool in the Aftermath of Disasters' [May 5, 2011]
"Good morning Chairman Pryor and distinguished Members of the Subcommittee. My name is Craig Fugate, and I am the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). It is an honor to appear before you today on behalf of FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security. I am particularly pleased to be here today to discuss the role of social media in disasters and emergencies. Technology grows and changes rapidly. Tools that did not exist even five years ago are now primary modes of communication for millions of individuals. Of course, tools like YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and others were not created for the purpose of preparing for, responding to, or recovering from emergencies and disasters. However, our success in fulfilling our mission at FEMA is highly dependent upon our ability to communicate with the individuals, families and communities we serve. For that reason, social media is extremely valuable to the work we do, and we are fortunate to have partners in the social media community with us here today who see the value of using these tools to increase public safety. In my testimony today, I would like to discuss why social media is important to the work we do, what social media tools FEMA uses in order to fulfill our mission, and what the future might hold for the nexus between social media and emergency management. We at FEMA greatly appreciate your interest in this important subject."
United States. Department of Homeland Security. Press Office
2011-05-05
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Social Media in Emergency Response: A Study in Facebook and Twitter
This presentation on "Social Media in Emergency Response" contains slides defining social media and its relevancy to emergency response. The presentation gives an overview of popular social media websites, elaborating with statistics on Facebook and Twitter. Many emergency management groups have pages on Facebook, and twitter users were vital in assisting with emergency management information during the Mumbai Terrorist Attacks in November 2008. The presentation's goal appears to be clarifying how the emergency response community can use social media. The conclusion states that social media's relevance to emergency management creates "opportunities for social media use in every day and emergency response operations"; and that the "value is in the community collaboration and information sharing."
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Youhas, Daniel K.
2010
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Navy Command Social Media Handbook
"Effective communication has always contributed to unit and mission success. In today's more connected environment, talking to and engaging with your audiences is absolutely essential. During the recent flooding in Millington, the base commanding officer and his staff effectively used social media as part of their approach to understand and respond to questions and concerns, which significantly contributed to their successful response. During Operation Unified Response, commanders of participating units used social media to communicate their units' and their Sailors' contributions in responding to Haiti. Social media is an effective channel to communicate relevant, aligned, and targeted information to the stakeholders that we want to reach, including some we have had a hard time reaching before. As with the advent of other communication technologies -- phone, fax, email, websites -- we must exercise caution to use these tools safely and effectively, and we must educate our Sailors and families to do the same. This handbook was put together by the Emerging Media Integration Team at CHINFO [U.S. Navy Chief of Information] and is intended to provide you with the information needed to more safely and effectively use social media. This handbook is not intended to be a comprehensive guide on command use of social media or take the place of official policy. The information in this handbook is a useful guide for navigating a dynamic communication environment. I hope after reviewing this handbook you're better prepared to use social media as an effective channel to share your command's story."
United States. Department of the Navy. Office of the Chief of Information
2010
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FEMA Independent Study Program: IS-42 Social Media in Emergency Management
From the interactive, web-based course homepage: "Social media is a new technology that not only allows for another channel of broadcasting messages to the public, but also allows for two way communication between emergency managers and major stakeholder groups. Increasingly the public is turning to social media technologies to obtain up to date information during emergencies and to share data about the disaster in the form of geo data, text, pictures, video, or a combination of these media. Social media also can allow for greater situational awareness for emergency responders. While social media allows for many opportunities to engage in an effective conversation with stakeholders, it also holds many challenges for emergency managers. The purpose of this course is to provide the participants with best practices including tools, techniques and a basic roadmap to build capabilities in the use of social media technologies in their own emergency management organizations (State, local, Tribal) in order to further their emergency response missions."
Emergency Management Institute (U.S.)
2013-10-31
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Being Social: Integrating Social Media into Public Information Support to Emergency Response #smem
From the thesis abstract: "Emergency response agencies across the homeland security spectrum rely on their public information offices to leverage social media in support of citizens and response organizations during times of disaster. Do these public information practitioners have the guidance and tools necessary to represent their organizations effectively in times of emergency? To answer this question, this thesis reviews social media policies at the local, state, federal and international emergency response agency levels, specifically looking at guidance provided for crisis communications social media use during and after a disaster. Case studies on the how social media are used during and after a disaster are studied from the various perspectives. Finally, this research examines additional considerations for social media and emergency response. The policy review and case studies find a disparity between what is expected of our emergency response agency communicators and the guidance provided to them to meet the needs of our citizens and organizations in a time of disaster. This gap between policy and action leaves room for miscommunication and inconsistencies that must be addressed. This thesis concludes with research analysis, addressing that information gap and provides a policy template for normal conditions and emergency response events."
Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.). Center for Homeland Defense and Security; Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.)
Spicer, Tamara L.
2013-03
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Best Practices for Incorporating Social Media into Exercises: Social Media Working Group for Emergency Services and Disaster Management and DHS S&T First Responders Group
"To institutionalize social media into all aspects of an agency's emergency preparedness, response and recovery operations, social media should be incorporated into exercises. Using social media in exercises helps prepare first responders for real-life events where the public increasingly uses social media to share and gather information. Exercises provide an opportunity for first responder and public safety agencies to integrate unconventional information channels into an operational environment without burdening timecrunched responders. This report discusses how agencies and organizations can integrate social media into exercises, provides suggestions for the planning processes and methods for conducting the exercise and evaluation, and lists challenges associated with using social media in exercises, areas of future research and case study examples for agencies."
United States. Department of Homeland Security
2017-03
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S. Hrg. 112-390: Understanding the Power of Social Media as a Communications Tool in the Aftermath of Disasters, Hearing Before the Ad Hoc Subcommittee on Disaster Recovery and Intergovernmental Affairs of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, United States Senate, One Hundred Twelfth Congress, First Session, May 5, 2011
From the opening statement of Mark L. Pryor: "Today the Subcommittee has been joined by very insightful guests to talk about the increasingly important role that social media networks play during disaster response and recovery efforts. From search and rescue to family reunification, to safety updates, to communicating vital shelter information, to other critical or lifesaving information, and to all around situational awareness, social media is becoming a tool that people are coming to rely on and to use heavily during emergencies. In July 2010, the American Red Cross conducted a survey--and they are here today, and they will probably talk about this in more detail, but they conducted a survey of over 1,000 people about their use of social media sites in emergency situations. The results of the survey were striking: 82 percent of the participants used some form of social media at least once a day, and nearly half of those use it every day or nearly every day. The survey found that if they needed help and could not reach 911, one in five would try to contact responders through a digital means such as e-mail, Web sites, or social media. If Web users knew of someone else who needed help, 44 percent would ask other people in their social network to contact authorities. Three out of four respondents would expect help to arrive in an hour if a call for help was delivered over the Internet; 35 percent would post a request for help directly on a response agency's Facebook page, and 28 percent would send a direct Twitter message to responders." Statements, letters, and materials submitted for the record include those of the following: Mark L. Pryor, Scott P. Brown, W. Craig Fugate, Renee Preslar, Suzy DeFrancis, Shona L. Brown, and Heather Blanchard.
United States. Government Printing Office
2012
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Understanding Where America's Public Discussion Takes Place in Today's Society: Case Studies of Concealed Weapons Carry Reform
From the thesis abstract: "Ideally, in America's democratic society, lawmakers pass laws based on the will of the people. The passage of concealed-carry laws across the country would then suggest that there is a significant movement that has pushed these bills through. However, the traditional media has failed to cover this aspect of the changing societal demand. What does this observation suggest about traditional media, which is considered an important medium of public discussion in a democracy? Has another medium for public discussion replaced the Fourth Estate? A case-study approach is used to single out instances in which states that passed concealed-weapons laws did so despite the lack of traditional media coverage. First, this thesis identifies traditional media trends at the state and national levels within the time period surrounding the passage of handgun reforms. Second, the media trend is compared to the passage of gun legislation and concealed-carry laws to establish the breadth, depth, and reach of traditional media's role in the public sphere. Third, alternative modes of information are compared to identify the presence and impact of other media sources on the public discourse. This research compares and contrasts the roles and importance of traditional and social media in the public sphere today, as evidenced by the coverage of concealed-carry laws and related stories. The research suggests that traditional news media is no longer the main forum for discussions regarding gun regulations in the public sphere. Social media's growing influence in the public has led to its emergence as an alternative to traditional media."
Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.)
Shaffer, David G.
2016-06
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First Responders Communities of Practice, Virtual Social Media Working Group - Community Engagement Guidance and Best Practices [Final]
"Social media and collaborative technologies have become critical components of emergency preparedness, response, and recovery. From the international response efforts after major tsunamis to hurricane recovery in major U.S. cities, officials now turn to social media technologies to share information and connect with the community during all phases of a crisis. Implementing these new technologies, however, requires responding agencies to adopt new communication strategies and methods of engagement. Recognizing the need to address these challenges, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Science and Technology Directorate (DHS S&T) has established the virtual social media working group (VSMWG). The mission of the VSMWG is to provide recommendations to the emergency preparedness and response community on the safe and sustainable use of social media technologies before, during, and after emergencies. Drawn from a cross-section of subject matter experts from local tribal, state, territorial, and federal responders from across the United States, VSMWG members are establishing and collecting best practices and solutions that can be leveraged by responders of all disciplines throughout the nation's emergency response community. Below is a list of agencies to which the VSMWG members belong. [...] This document discusses best practices for the use of social media by public safety agencies of all disciplines and partner organizations for meaningful and successful engagement of community members and stakeholders."
United States. Department of Homeland Security. Science and Technology Directorate
2012-09-18
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Alerts and Warnings Using Social Media Project
"Many emergency response agencies are using social media to issue warnings and alerts quickly. There are potential challenges when using social media, including public response to messages, governance structures, resources and coordination with neighboring communities. The Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) is helping emergency responders understand these challenges and how to best originate and disseminate alerts and warnings to their communities. In partnership with nationwide practitioners, S&T's Alerts and Warnings Using Social Media (AWSM) project created guidance, which provides analysis, case studies and recommendations on how to improve alert and warning programs using social media, to help agencies alert more people, in more places, in more ways. The guidance ad-dresses five core elements for achieving success: community awareness, governance, partnerships, resources and usage. Citizens expect to receive critical alerts and warnings on social media platforms and AWSM enables first responders to fulfill those expectations."
United States. Department of Homeland Security. Science and Technology Directorate
2014-10-31
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Building Productive Relationships with the Media: Dealing with New Media Culture During Crisis Situations
"The emergence of new media and social networking technology has dramatically changed law enforcement relations with the press. Not only has it added a new dimension to the skills already needed in today's 24/7 'all-news-all-the-time' media culture, but also it increases the chances of missteps--particularly in crisis or emergency situations. At the same time, it has created new opportunities for police managers in furthering police/community/media relations. Part I of this report offers general guidelines designed for police executives and public information officers operating in this new environment. It focuses on (1) dealing with the current media culture during crisis situations and (2) offers 'do's and don'ts' for using social media in communicating with the press. Both sets of guidelines should be considered essential components in any long-term strategy for building productive relationships with the media in your community. The guidelines are based on the real-world experiences of senior police managers and on research by media technology and law enforcement experts. For more detailed information and further reading, this report also provides a list of references and additional resources. Part II provides a real-world example of crisis management, which involved the use of both traditional and new media by then Los Angeles Police Chief William J. Bratton following the 'May Day' 2007 confrontation involving LAPD [Los Angeles Police Department] officers, media, and demonstrators at Los Angeles' MacArthur Park."
United States. Department of Justice. Office of Community Oriented Policing Services
Handelman, Stephen; Domanick, Joe
2012-02
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Using Social Media Tools to Enhance Tacit Knowledge Sharing Within the USMC
From the thesis abstract: "Social media usage has exploded over the past several years. Individuals are using social media tools to stay constantly connected to friends, family and co-workers. Companies have learned to leverage these same technologies both externally and internally. These emerging social technologies, applications and platforms are an excellent way for geographically separated people to connect, communicate and share knowledge in novel ways. The United States Marine Corps (USMC) continues to communicate primarily through telephone, email and reports. The valuable resource of tacit knowledge contained within veterans of operations spanning from distributed counterinsurgencies to complex humanitarian assistance efforts is usually shared via face-to-face interaction and informal networks. Academic literature and industry adoption indicate that social media tools are now familiar and mature enough to provide an additional or even substitute conduit for this type of rich tacit knowledge sharing. How can social media tools be used to improve USMC tacit knowledge sharing? This research explores the extant use of Web 2.0 enabled social tools for the purpose of tacit knowledge sharing. A case study of a USMC unit identifies knowledge sharing pathologies, and presents use cases for the application of social tools to address these pathologies."
Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.)
Mastrom, James P., Jr.
2013-09
