Social Media in Crisis Communication: The IAEA's Experience During the Fukushima Accident

Social Media in Crisis Communications
The IAEA ’ s Experience in Using Social Media During the Fukushima Nuclear Accident
Rodolfo Quevenco, Public Information Officer [email_address]

About the IAEA

One the IAEA ’ s primary responsibilities during a nuclear emergency is to inform States Parties, Members States, and other States of a nuclear or radiological emergency.

Our Social Media Profile

Before 03/11
YouTube since 2007
Flickr since 2008
Press and Info Blogs since 2008
Facebook since mid- 2009 (5000 fans)
Twitter since early 2009 (4,800 followers)
Slideshare since 2010
Scribd since late 2010

Earthquake & Tsunami Devastate Japan, March 11, 2011

Web Site Visits

Web traffic volume comparable to a DOS (Denial of Service) attack

E-mail Traffic
1,000+ emails/week
requests for information or help; offers of technical advise
emotional, angry, anxious
staff, consultants, interns on 24/7 email management shift

Simplified Overview National Authority Member States Info Division Other Official Sources Partners New media Traditional Web Press/Public IAEA Incident Emergency Center

Immediate Effect: Web site and email overload severely affected our ability to reach and inform the public.

Change of Strategy: Use social media to support outreach, mimimise load on the web site.

Facebook for Status/Daily Updates
Twitter to announce breaking, short updates
YouTube to host video files
Slideshare to host technical presentations
Scribd to upload and share reports

Facebook

Twitter

Slideshare IAEA presentations on Slideshare had 490,598 total Views, 1,036 Email Shares and 17,990 Downloads.

Scribd

Total photo views on IAEA ’ s photostream increased from an average of 5158 images per week from 07-13 March 2011 to an average of 17,895 views per week during the crisis period.

Rules of Engagement
open communication
emphasis on factual announcements; less pr messaging/sound bites
quick interaction
tolerance (within limits)

Our efforts get noticed
Los Angeles Times http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2011/03/japan-earthquake-iaea- youtube-facebook-nuclear-updates.html
USA Today http:// www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2011-04-12-1Ajapansocialmedia12_CV_N.htm

Strategic Importance

The Pluses (+)
Reach a massive audience instantly
Provides continuous, immediate feedback
Empowers staff to react and adjust approaches
Enhances Agency ’ s image, re transparency, accessibility

The Minuses (-)
Staff resources stretched to the maximum
“ Trouble-makers ” can hijack the conversation
Instant answers vs official data: difficulty to merge public expectation with institutional realities

Operational Insights

Critical comments outnumbered positive comments by 3:1
Rational, factual, non-argumentative replies worked best
Strong tendency for users to self-correct each other
Continuous monitoring of discussions absolutely essential

Summary

All Social Media Channels registered significant/sustained increase in usage
Facebook and Twitter were top channels referring to IAEA ’ s web site
IAEA Facebook account hosted 40x more views than iaea.org web site
Cross-posting/retweets by sister UN organizations key factors

IAEA Social media fans have stayed loyal.

For crisis communication, the promise* of Social Media has proven true. *Reaching as wide an audience at the shortest possible time with instantaneous feedback.

It helped (a lot). It worked. It can work for you, too.

Thank You [email_address]

IAEA Social Media Channels www.facebook.com/iaeaorg/ www.twitter.com/iaeaorg w ww.youtube.com / iaeavide o www.flickr.com/photos/ iaea_imagebank www.slides hare.net/iaea www.scribd.c om /iaea

Social Media in Crisis Communication: The IAEA's Experience During the Fukushima Accident

by Rodolfo Quevenco on Sep 30, 2011

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Social Media in Crisis Communication: The IAEA’s Experience During the Fukushima Accident — Presentation Transcript

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