GTSC's National Preparedness Month Symposium Presentation: How Can We Leverage Technology to Improve Performance: Social Media in Emergency Management Presenter: Todd Jasper, Director of Homeland Security & Emergency Management, Man-Machine Systems Assessment (MSA) Description: Technological advances are allowing FEMA to integrate people, processes and information better than ever before. Social media apps and tools are transforming the way people communicate before, during and after a disaster. These technologies afford FEMA unique opportunities to analyze and crowd share data, communicate alerts and information about disasters and increase FEMA's situational awareness on the ground faster and more efficiently.

1. Social Media in
Emergency Management
Defining a New Era of Disaster
Preparedness, Response, and Recovery

2. Todd J. Jasper
• Director of the Homeland Security
and Emergency Management
Division at MSA, Inc.
• Emergency management
consultant to agencies such as HHS,
DHS, FEMA, USAID, and National
Science Foundation
• Twitter: @toddjasper

3. WHAT IS
#SMEM?

5. Social Media:
forms of electronic communication (such as Web
sites for social networking and micro-blogging)
through which users create online communities
to share information, ideas, personal messages,
and other content (as videos)

7. More than 1.25 Billion!

9. More than 250 million!

11. 500 million tweets daily

12. During emergencies , social media
usage dramatically increases

13. During emergencies , social media
usage dramatically increases

15. Why do people use social media during
emergencies?

16. #SMEM Reasons
• Availability
• Convenience
• Social Norms
• Seeking Information
• Timely information
• Unique Information
• Unfiltered information
• To determine disaster
magnitude
• To check-in with family &
friends
• To self-mobilize
• To maintain a sense of
community
• To seek emotional support
UMD: Social Media Use during Disasters: A Review of the Knowledge Base and Gaps

17. Social media usage is prolific, across multiple platforms

18. Social media usage is prolific, across multiple platforms

19. Social media usage is prolific, across multiple platforms

20. Social media usage is prolific, across multiple platforms

21. Social media usage is prolific, across multiple platforms

22. Social media usage is prolific, across multiple platforms

23. Social media usage is prolific, across multiple platforms

24. Even the Pope is using social media now

25. Some examples…

28. “We’re going to get the victims out, we’re then going to conduct a
sweep with EOD assets… we will then get people out of the
restaurants and bars. I need somebody up there to get on social
media and let people know what we’re doing here–that we’re
sweeping the streets to make sure it’s safe first, and then we’ll get
them out of the bars once we get it swept.”

31. The future of social media in emergencies…

32. More demand for connectivity

33. More demand for connectivity

34. More demand for connectivity
Cell on Wheels (COWS)

35. Rumor control

36. Rumor control

41. Rumor control

42. Rumor control

43. Changing the way emergency managers and
stakeholders communicate

44. My pledge to the individuals and
communities we serve is that rather
than asking them to change the way
they communicate to fit our system,
we will continue to change the way
we do business to fit the way they
communicate. In doing so, we will not
only reach the largest possible audience
to share important information, but we
will help facilitate a two-way
communication, engaging the
individuals, families and communities as
a critical part of our emergency
management team.