Public Response to Alerts and Warnings Using Social Media Report of a Workshop on Current Knowledge and Research Gaps (2013) / Chapter Skim
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2 Current Uses of Social Media in Emergencies
2 Current Uses of Social Media in Emergencies
Pages 12-21
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From page 12... ...
USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA BY THE LOS ANGELES FIRE DEPARTMENT Brian Humphrey described the wide array of social media tools the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) uses to both disseminate and monitor information before, during, and after fire emergencies, including two Twitter accounts: @LAFD,1 used solely for alerts, and @LAFDtalk,2 used for conversations with the public.
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Nevertheless, some potentially useful tools for using social media have proven too expensive to acquire, and some uses of certain tools are precluded by the terms of their end user license agreements, commented Humphrey, but he noted that the LAFD has identified a set of free or low-cost tools that are useful for disseminating and monitoring information. Many of the LAFD's social media accounts are fed by email using the services Ping.FM4 and HelloTXT.com,5 which makes it possible to quickly provide or request information through the approximately 80 social media accounts managed by the LAFD.
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-- I just saw a person get shot at 5th and Elm St. USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA BY WCNC, CHARLOTTE, TO PROVIDE WEATHER INFORMATION Brad Panovich began by describing the multi-tiered warning process he uses to inform the public when potentially severe weather is forecast.
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A text alert from iNWS can be pasted into Ping.FM, which is configured to send the message to any of the six Facebook pages that Panovich manages. Tumblr blogs allow for posts via email, and then these posts can be sent directly to an RSS feed, a Web-based tool that can display various updated Internet sites in a standard format, or automatically posted to Facebook or Twitter.
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• Social media and other new tools for disseminating information are important, but not everyone uses social media, so broadcasting and other traditional media also play an important role in informing the public about weather events. USING SOCIAL MEDIA FOR EARTHQUAKE DETECTION AND ALERTING The National Earthquake Information Center (NEIC)
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An example of a Twitter alert and of the Web page it links to is shown in Figure 2.1. USING SOCIAL MEDIA TO ASSESS COMMUNICATION NEEDS AND DISSEMINATE INFORMATION DURING A HEALTH EMERGENCY The mission of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
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18 PUBLIC RESPONSE TO ALERTS AND WARNINGS USING SOCIAL MEDIA FIGURE 2.1 An example of a tweet and the associated Web page for a detected earthquake.
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If the agency can determine good ways to mobilize them, 1.3 million followers could prove a useful resource. A recent use of social media in conjunction with the CDC's worldwide polio eradication effort illustrated both the public's interest in and potential pitfalls of using social media, observed Lubell.
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There are potential risks involved in using social media, and government agencies tend to be very risk-averse. However, social media can significantly enhance public response capabilities and can also be used to enhance public trust.
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• As communication becomes increasingly mobile and Internet media services are substituted for broadcasting services, social media applications can provide an increasingly important way for emergency managers to reach the public. • Although a number of existing tools have been successfully adapted, there is also a need for tools for both information dissemination and monitoring that are better matched to the needs of emergency managers.
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