Social Media Working | Indiana | MESH | October 2013

1. Session 4:

2. 1. Define Social Media Monitoring
2. Explain why Monitoring Is
Important
3. How to Set UpYour “Traplines”
4. UsingVirtual SupportTeams

5. Social Media ~ UsingWeb-Based tools to
network, share information, congregate with
others online
Data Mining ~ Sifting through large amounts
of data to find actionable information.

6. Time isValuable
Can Provide Clarity During
the Fog ofWar
Your Messages May be
Confusing
Public Can BeYour Ally

7.  DefineObjectives ~What AreYou Looking For?
 Where &What DoYouWant to Monitor?
 Prioritize & Filter Information

8.  Does the answer already exist within talking points?
 Does the issue require more research?
 Who should be involved in determining the answer?
 What are the implications if the issue is ignored?

9.  Context is King
 Understand Spoofs & Fake Information
 If it sounds “too good to be true…”
 Warns of impending doom?
 Verify via www.snopes.com
 Internet Memes

10. Know how your community is
talking about an event.
Gather all hashtags!
 The # sign makes a word independently searchable
onTwitter and is called a hashtag.
 Two ways hashtags are used:
 To gather topics under one word
 Used as “thought bubbles” by speakers

11.  You’ve defined your mission, know where you
are searching, so what areTraplines?

12.  Geocoded Searches: Where you put in the
Latitude/Longitude intoTwitter and see what is
being shared around a particular location.
 Social Media Aggregators: Where you use search
bars and manually put in your “search term.”
 Example = www.IceRocket.com or www.Topsy.com
 Alerts: Information PingsYou when your “search
term” is found.
 Example = GoogleAlerts or newly emergingTwitter Alerts

13. To use Google Alerts:
 Go to www.google.com/alerts and fill out the
form.
 If you are looking for multiple words, use
“quotation marks” around the words or phrase.
Limitations:
 May be time-delays in the results, up to a couple
of days
 May not be complete information

14.  Real Simple Syndication (RSS) Feeds: On a
periodic basis, the internet is automatically
searched for new information from sites you are
interested in watching.
 First, you set up a “Reader” which is essentially a
deposit place for your new information like
www.feedly.com or www.theoldreader.com
 Then, you look for the RSS sign on a webpage, click
on it & copy the link.
 Place the link in your “reader” as a new subscription

15. Social Aggregators:
 www.IceRocket.com
 www.socialmention.com
 www.topsy.com
 www.kurrently.com
 www.addictomatic.com
 www.facebook.com/search for Facebook
 https://twitter.com/search-advanced forTwitter
 Yahoo Pipes (more advanced tool) =
http://pipes.yahoo.com/pipes/
Check them out and search by keyword.
What do you notice?

16.  www.TrendsMap.com will show
you what words are trending in
Tweets via map view. Log-in via
Twitter
 ReadTwitter Search by
Location at
http://thoughtfaucet.com/searc
h-twitter-by-location/
 Hootsuite provides tools for
monitoring via their pro
accounts
http://blog.hootsuite.com/socia
l-listening-hsu-videos-2/

17. Go to www.trendsmap.com or
www.whatthetrend.com and look for trending
words.
Choose one that seems like a news story.
Use other Aggregator tools to find out why that
word is trending.

18.  Practice, Practice, Practice
 Use daily top news stories to practice your
searching when you have a few free minutes.
 Ask questions of others for tips, tricks and
help.

19.  Team of “Trusted agents,”
organized and directed by
EM Response
Organizations
 Incident ManagementTeams
 Incident PIO’s
 Emergency Operations
Centers)
 VOST teams are given
social media and web-
based missions to manage

20.  Ability to Focus on Web
 Variety of Skills &
Abilities Available,
based on networks of
participants
 Ability to SeeTrends &
Issues
 Provides a Filter for EM
Response Agencies

21. Activations may vary and be subject to change based on pre arrangements with EM agencies.
Preparing a VOST Team
• Understand the Need
• Become Familiar with Social Media
• IdentifyTypes of Missions
• AchieveAgency Buy-In
• RecruitTeam Members
• Establish Protocols
• Train/Exercise

22. For More Information:
 VOSTWebsite: http://vosg.us
 Orange CountyVOST Creation
 CRESA Field Operations Guide
VOST Support Resources

23. Contact Information:
Cheryl Bledsoe (@cherylble)
Cheryl.Bledsoe@clark.wa.gov
360-992-6270