Harnessing the
Power
of Social Media in
Emergency Management
Presented By
Gideon F. For-mukwai, CEM
New Media Preparedness Facilitator
www.1xtramile.com
775 225 2755

California Interagency Incident
Management Team Workshop

Social Media-
Friend or Foe?

Why Use Social Media?
• Gather information
• Analyze data
• Disseminate

• hyperlinkhttp://www.pageflakes.com/

Why Use Social Media?
• Connect daily with community (LAFD)
• Unite with allies to prepare (FEMA)
• Cost-effective (cost $0)
• Know your backyard

Applying
Social Media
in Emergency
Management

Social Media in
Emergency Management
• Identify changing audiences
• Meetup.com
• Monitor the media minute by minute
• Yahoo buzz
• One-stop dissemination
• Post/upload to blog

Is Social Media NIMS
Compliant?
• Common operating picture - flickr
• Consistency in flow of information- blog
• Data Accessibility- google maps
• Interoperability

Applying
Social Media in
Public Information
Assignments

Who Else Needs
Social Media?
• Emergency managers
• Public safety authorities
• Government and private organizations

When to
Apply
Social Media

When is Social Media
Relevant?
• During the four phases of Emergency
Management
• Mitigation
• Preparedness
• Response
• Recovery

Social Media Tools

Pitfalls of Social Media
• It can can be used to perpetuate rumors
• It can be explored by your foes
• It can be abused

Mitigation Phase

Preparedness Phase

Response Phase

Recovery Phase

Implementing
Social Media

How to Implement
Social Media
• 4 Steps to Social Media Implementation:
• Step I-Needs Assessment
• Step 2-Pilot Project implementation
• Step 3 -Full Implementation
• Step 4-Project Review

Needs Assessment
• Find out which tools are already in use
• Who is currently using some tools?
• Get to know their purpose

Where is the Crowd?

Needs Assessment
• Which tools are feasible for you?
• What regulations are you up against?
• Is there any agency you can benchmark?
• Think about personnel
• Think about time

• http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/
ng_20090325_5490.php

Initiate Pilot Project
• Identify/use feasible tools
• Identify collaborators and users
• Get management support

• http://lapdblog.typepad.com/hyperlink

Full Implementation
• Reach farther afield
• Identify flag bearers for your project
• Benchmark with fellow partners

Review of Implementation
• Is social media making a difference?
• Survey the weakest links
• Survey the most savvy

The Power of
Social Media

Hidden Power of Social Media
• Social Media Builds BRIDGES
• Build relationships
• Reach out to community
• Interactivity tools for regular engagement
• Dissemination of information
• Goal-enhancement ie life safety et al
• Engagement of community
• Support of incident commander

Social Media Says
We Are One!