The Transformative Power
of Social Media on
Emergency Management
Gideon F. For-mukwai, CEM
Graduate Fellow, Reynolds School of Journalism, UNR

Content
Is Social Media Relevant?
Social Media Transformations
Social Media Strategies
Best Practices

Why Bother with Social
Media?
 Social Media Builds Social Capital
 Social Capital Builds a Cohesive Community
 A Cohesive Community Forges Together in Times of Crisis
Social Capital is
Crucial in Public
Safety

Social Media in
Public Safety &
Crisis Preparedness

Social Media in Public
Safety Arena

What if Public Safety
Authorities Embrace Social
Media?
 Elected Officials
 Public Safety Officers- Police
 Public Safety Officers- Fire
 Safety and Emergency Managers

Transformation From Mass
Media to Social Media is
akin to Gourd to Pipe

Benefits in Public Safety
 It reduces physical distance
 It enhances readiness
 Shares best practices
 It reduces red tape
 Engagement

Current Reality with Social
Media Today
 Lack of control
 Resistance to change
 Full of vanity and sanity
 It is time-consuming
 Turbulent

The Issue at Stake in
Public Safety
 [Paradigm shift being ignored]
 ver dependence on mass media is
O
wrong strategy today
 ass media is collapsing and audiences
M
increasingly fragmented
 he public is increasingly speaking a new
T
language in the heartlands [social media]

Potential Areas of
Applying Social Media

Engage Community, Build
Trust & Relationships

Provide Reminders and
Make Preparedness Cool

Use in Notification and Info
Dissemination
http://www.facebook.com/pages/New-York-NY
http://www.fema.gov/help/rss.shtm
http://twitter.com/RedCross

Show Heroes at Work

Share Resiliency Lessons
and Stories
http://www.lapdblog.org/ http://twitter.com/LAPD http://www.flickr.com/photos/lafd/

Social Media
Strategies for Public
Safety

Developing a Social Media
Strategy

Basic Approaches to
Dealing With Social Media
 Ignore it- [Abort]
 Outsource – [Adopt]
 Keep it – [Parent]

Look Before You Leap
 Volatile
 Versatile
 Powerful
 Unpredictable
 Self-destructive
 Uncontrollable

“Abort” Strategy
Does it work to ignore
The problem?

“Adopt” Strategy
Outsource the Problem
To someone else

“Parenting” Strategy
 Time –consuming
 Takes effort and skill
 Controllable at times
 Has the potential to produce results

Recent Noteworthy Use
of Social Media in
Times of Crisis

Signs of Hope- Current Users
Cities Using Social Media:
NY, LA, Philadelphia, Seattlel, San Francisco, Sacramento,
Counties using Social Media:
Washoe County, Washington, Williamson, Catawba, Orange,
Garret, Sonoma, Durham, Fairfax, Montgomery, Derby, Allen
Government Departments Using Social Media:
White House, CIA, FEMA, CDC etc
Non Profit Organizations Using Social Media:
ARC, Salvation Army etc

Best Practice- American
Red Cross
Comprehensive Social Media Strategy
 Blog
Why Spend so Much
 Facebook
Time on Social
Media?
 Youtube
 Twitter
 Vimeo Social Capital is
Hot Currency in
 LinkedIn a Disaster!
 Socialvibe

The Transformative Power of
Social Media
 Social builds bridges
 It binds community together
 Reaches out to friends and foes
 Interactive involvement of people
 Goal enhancement (safety, esteem etc)
 Dissemination of information (word of mouth)
 Engagement of diverse groups
Social Capital
 Support of constituent parts at work

Appreciation
 Reynolds School of Journalism, University of Nevada, Reno
 Washoe County Regional Emergency Operations Center, Reno, NV
Contact:
XtraMile Emergency Solutions
www.1xtramile.com
Gideon.mukwai@gmail.com
775 225 2755
P. O. Box 9152 Reno
Nevada 89507

References
 Site-Seeing in Disaster, An Examination of On-Line Social Convergence, Amanda L.
Hughes, Leysia Palen, Jeanette Sutton, Sophia B. Liu, & Sarah Vieweg, Proceedings of 5th
International ISCRAM Conference- Washington DC, USA, May 2008.
 How to Develop a Business-Aligned Social Media & Social Networking Strategy,
McDonald, D. Dennis. Retrieved June 16, 2009 website: http://www.ddmcd.com/
strategy_alignment.html
 Collective Intelligence in Disaster: Examination of the Phenomenon in the Aftermath of
the 2007 Virginia Tech Shooting, Sarah Vieweg, Leysia Palen, Sophia B. Liu, Amanda L.
Hughes, & Jeannette Sutton, Proceedings of 5th International ISCRAM Conference,
Washington DC, USA, May 2008.
 Putnam, D. Robert,( 2000). Bowling Alone: The Collapse of and Revival of American
Community, New York: Simon and Schuster.
 Benkler, Yochai, (2006) The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms
Markets and Freedom. New Haven and London: Yale University Press.