Series introduction (October 12, 2011)

 

Part 1: startting from scratch (October 23, 2011)

 

Part 2: Setting objectives and measurement (October 23, 2011)

 

Part 3: How to get started: finding the right social network to use first (November 2, 2011)

When you've finally made the decision to use social networks in your organization, whether as part of your alerting channels or as corporate communications tool, finding the right social media platform to get you going is critical. in that step 2 of my suggested integration process:

Limited use of SM: ... the first step is ... acceptance ... social media platforms are now key parts of our communities' fabric. We have to move at the    speed of our audience and that means, in some cases, using social media as an old-fashioned one-way communications tool, Think of Twitter (for example), as a key component of your alerting/notification process. How difficult is that to sell to senior execs? Key argument: all traditional media outlets monitor social media so using it will get many audiences informed quickly.

Asking a few basic questions helps:

1. what's the right match for our organization and its objectives? For example, if we want to add to our public alerting and warning array, will Twitter be better than Facebook?

2. What procedures do we put in place of the use of our Twitter account? Who can tweet for us?

3. What messaging will we use? What approvals do we need in place to use Twitter effectively.

It's important to add that you should still use all channels to reach all audiences about all hazards. No sense in limiting your reach.

By now, you've guessed that I"m a big fan of twitter as an addition to your alerting system. More and more people agree that Twitter is a very effective way of getting your alerts out quickly and reaching the traditional media at the same time.

The strength of social media as alerting tools comes from .... well, their social nature. See this great presentation on the role of SM in that process. The principles behind social networks are not new. They have been here for centuries. It's about relationships. In a crisis, people turn to people they know and trust. The become even more social. Social media then become "force multipliers" in terms of your alerting process by greatly enhancing that process of peer-to-peer information sharing. It's also important to remember that warning messages should focus on people and not your organization.

That can be especially useful when some of your other alerting tools become less useful as suggested in the quote below from the Joplin Globe's coverage on a federal report:

"The investigators, who interviewed more than 100 people, found that many of them said that they "hear sirens all the time" and that they are "bombarded with sirens so often that we don't pay attention."

In addition. adding social media to your array of public alerting channels can be cost effective in an era of tight budgets. Using social networks to alert your citizens of impending disasters is certainly part of the two-way dialogue that SMEM proponents champion everyday , including the head of FEMA.

After the initial alert, Twitter (or Facebook, should you chose that platform as your first SM experience) offer a fantastic tool to continue to provide emergency information. A multitude of agencies used Twitter in that fashion to prepare for, respond to and recover from, Hurricane Irene on the US East Coast earlier this year. See this report for an overview of the extensive use of social media.

And if you're still wondering about the importance of using social networks in your communications efforts during a crisis or a disaster. Watch this video:

So, get started and be more effective. These training resources should help.