Online Communication During Emergencies
Managing, Messaging, Monitoring
Carol A SpencerDigital & Social Media ManagerCounty of Morris, NJ
NJ GMISMarch 27, 2014
Managing• ESF #15: Communication• EOC: Are you part of it?• ICS: Are you trained in it?Messaging• The Expectation Gap• Just the facts, ma’am• Messaging tools and practicesMonitoring• What are they saying?• Monitoring tools and practices• Working with citizens
• The public expects government to be social and mobile• Citizens are online and mobile. Is government?• 71% of online adults use Facebook• 243 Million monthly active users on Twitter• 150+ Million users on Instagram• US Citizens: 55% have a smartphone; 42% have a tablet
• The expectation gap: not where you want to be• Just the facts, ma’am
• Trusted, factual, vetted information only• No newspaper articles, blog posts, or unvetted citizen sites
• Set up and test in advance. Be ready.
MANAGING
ESF: Emergency Support Function• Standardized organizational structure for public and certain private
sector capabilities needed in an emergency• ESF #15: External Affairs
• Supports the restoration of communications infrastructure• Coordinates communications support to response efforts• Facilitates the delivery of information to emergency management
decision makers• Assists in the stabilization and reestablishment of systems and
applications from cyber attacks
• For more information• http://
www.fema.gov/media-library-data/965d87d8c5ffc4bcccb01979913e01fc/ESF15_SOP_08-30-2013-02.pdf
• http://www.fema.gov/national-response-framework
TERMINOLOGY
EOC: Emergency Operations Center• Location for centralized emergency management• Directed by an Emergency Management Director or Incident
Commander• Command and control point for officials preparing for or responding
to an incident• Some or all ESFs may participate, incident dependent• For more information
• http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/IS/courseOverview.aspx?code=is-775 • http://www.ready.nj.gov/plan/local-officials.html
TERMINOLOGY
ICS: Incident Command System• Standard incident management approach• Enables effective, efficient incident management• Designed to be used with any size incident• ICS reporting structure replaces agency’s standard reporting structure• For more information
• http://www.fema.gov/incident-command-system• http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/is/ICSResource/TrainingMaterials.htm
TERMINOLOGY
• Your messages• Use multiple channels. Those on FB are not typically on Twitter.• Be consistent across channels.• Be human. Remember this is a conversation.
• Citizen messages - monitor, monitor, monitor• Press messages
• Do not repost or retweet newspaper articles, blog posts, or unvetted citizen sites
• Rumors• Create a page to handle rumors. Wordpress or Blogger work nicely on
the fly for this. • Address rumors no matter where they originate. • If you can post a correction on the original source, do so.
MESSAGING
• What are they saying?• Monitor social media even if you don’t use it.• Identify trending problems, specific needs
• Monitoring tools and practices• Use a dashboard like Hootsuite.com
• Working with citizens• Vet for responsible publication; support and encourage sharing;
ensure formal non-profit status if collecting money or goods.
• More information• http://blog.hootsuite.com/use-hootsuite-social-listening/• http://www.lunametrics.com/blog/2013/06/03/hootsuite-stream-monit
oring-operators• http://sierratierra.com/hootsuite-features-social-media-monitoring/
MONITORING
MONITORING: Use a dashboardMonitoring requires having a social network. You can monitor even if you don’t post.
In advance:• Create a Twitter account
where your tweets are protected if you don’t want to use Twitter.
• Create an unpublished FB page if you don’t want to use Facebook.
• Be sure your Facebook profile is well secured so no one can find it.
MONITORING: Use a dashboard
MONITORING: Use a dashboard
MONITORING: Use a dashboard
MONITORING: Use a dashboard
MONITORING: Use a dashboard
MONITORING: Use a dashboard
MONITORING: Use a dashboard
MONITORING: Keyword and Search Terms
The Keys to Success:
Properly Managing
Consistent Messaging
Active Monitoring
Website NAGW.org
Twitter Twitter.com/NAGW
Facebook Facebook.com/NAGW.org
GovLoop Govloop.com/group/NAGW
Email [email protected]
Website MorrisCountyNJ.gov
Twitter Twitter.com/MorrisCountyNJ
Facebook Facebook.com/MorrisCountyNJ
YouTube YouTube.com/MorrisCountyNJ
Flickr Flickr.com/MorrisCountyNJ
Email [email protected]
National Association of Government Web Professionals
Morris County NJ
Online Communication During Emergencies
Managing, Messaging, Monitoring
Carol A SpencerDigital & Social Media ManagerCounty of Morris, NJ
NJ GMISMarch 27, 2014