Judith NewtonResearch Associate, Queensland University of Technology

Models of Social Media Adoption in

Emergency Management Organisations

Contents• Rise of Social Media

• Social Media, Emergency Management Organisations & Change

• Information Technology & Social Media Adoption in Organisations

• Factors that Influence Organisational Social Media Adoption

• Social Media Adoption Models

• Future Research

Introduction

Social media is “a critical and indispensable element in disaster & crisis communication”.Source: Haddow, Bullock & Coppola (2014, 148)

• CC

Flickr Creative Commons: US Geographical Society

Social Media Adoption?

Flickr Creative Commons: Dan Foy Flickr Creative Commons: Nate Steiner

The Rise of Social Media

• Globally 1 in 4 people use social media

• Australians are strong social media users

• Facebook most popular (95%); Linked In (20%); Instagram (16%); Twitter & Google + (15% each)

Source: Sensis 2013 Flickr Creative Commons: Staffan Scherz

The Rise of Social Media

• Frequency of social media use also grown

• Growth in use of smart phones & tablets

• Australian business social media use less than proportion of Australians using social media

• Growth in social media use across small, media & large businesses (2011 to 2013)

Source: Sensis 2013

Social Media, Emergency Management Organisations & Change

• Social media used in disaster & normal day to day communications– Community safety & crisis information– Emergency alerts & warnings– Intelligence gathering– Notifications to staff & volunteers– Requests for assistance from the community– Recovery information & advice

Source: Lindsay 2011, 3-5

Social Media, Emergency Management Organisations & Change

Changes that impact on disaster communications:

•Citizen journalism•Blurring of lines of communication•Amplification of word of mouth communication

Social Media, Emergency Management Organisations & Change

• Social media and potential risks

- posting of misinformation

- hacking of social media accounts

- security breaches

• Perceived loss of control for emergency management organisations – direct contrast to command and control approach

IT and Social Media Adoption

Flickr Creative Commons: Ted Sakshaug Flickr Creative Commons: Jason Howie

Differences between InformationTechnology & Social Media adoption

IT Adoption

• Catalyst – need to rectify organisational problem

• Policy developed prior to technology being used

• Adoption process out of public view

• Uses organisation’s own information & communication infrastructure

Social Media Adoption

• Driven by change in consumer communication preferences & behaviour

• Policy developed after using social media

• Adoption highly visible to online community

• Uses third party platforms, not controlled by organisation

Factors that Influence Social Media Adoption in Organisations

• Organisational culture

• Management style

• The size of an organisation

• Knowledge and understanding about social media

• Social media champion

• Resourcing & Training

• Mission statement & strategies

Mission statement, strategies & social media

Location Strategy Business Value

Tactic Policy Resources

IT Department

Represent InformationBroadcast

Push No interaction allowed

None

Public Affairs Office

Engage Education Pull Commenting Policy

Dedicated staff & $

Knowledge Experts

Mingle TransactionalEmpowering

Network Open exchanges within SM guidelines

Dedicated staff & $+ Expert accounts

Source: Mergel 2013, 129

Social Media Adoption Models

• Centralised model - policy & direction from one senior level in department

• Distributed strategic model – each department has own policy & direction

• Coordinated hub and spoke model – framework from senior management & implementation at individual department level

Social Media Adoption Models

• Multiple hub and spoke model – each department implements framework, with variations of implementation occurring at the unit level within each department

• Holistic model – social media used freely by all, individual efforts then coordinated

In Addition to yourNormal Duties Model

•No increase in staffing

•Social media added to existing duties

Flickr Creative Commons: bark

All In Model

•Everyone in organisation can use social media

•UK Police Forces & Twitter

Flickr Creative Commons: Nicole Yeary

Let’s Get Together Model

•Not a separate entity•Integral to other parts of organisation•Physical location•Narrowing approval processes

Flickr Creative Commons: susan

Future Research

• Forthcoming Survey• Australian EMO &

Local Governments• Positioning of social

media function• Resourcing, staffing,

policies, roles & responsibilities to post of social media

• Aim to commence survey late 2014

• Project finish date -December 2015

• Findings fed back to Industry

Contact details:judith.newton@qut.edu.au

Questions?

Flickr Creative Commons: Scott McLeod

References

Haddow, George D., Jane A. Bullock and Damon P. Coppola. 2014. Introduction to Emergency Management. 5th ed. Waltham, MA: Butterworth-Heinemann, an imprint of Elsevier.

Lindsay, Bruce R. 2011. Social Media and Disasters: Current Uses, Future Options, and Policy Considerations, Report to Congress. United States of America: Congressional Research Services. Accessed 22 March 2014. https://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/homesec/R41987.pdf

Mergel, Innes. 2013. “Social Media Adoption and Resulting Tactics in the U.S. Federal Government.” Government Information Quarterly 30: 123-130. Accessed 27 March 2014.

http://www.sciencedirect.com.ezp01.library.qut.edu.au/science/article/pii/S0740624X13000063?via=ihub

References

Miller, Andrew. 2011. “Cultural Barriers to Organisational Social Media Adoption.” In Social Knowledge: Using Social Media to Know What You Know, edited by john P Girard and JoAnn L. Girard, 96-114. Hershey, PA: IGI Global. Accessed 28 March 2014. DOI: 10.4018/978-1-60960-203-1

Patel, Laleh. 2010. “The Rise of Social Media.” T&D 64 (7):60-61,8. Accessed 13 March 2014. http://gateway.library.qut.edu.au/login?url=http://search.proquest.com.ezp01.library.qut.edu.au/docview/608037080?accountid=13380

Sensis and the Australian Interactive Media Industry Association. 2013. “Yellow Social Media Report”. 3rd Edition. Accessed 13 March 2014. http://about.sensis.com.au/IgnitionSuite/uploads/docs/Yellow%20Pages%20Social%20Media%20Report_F.PDF

Acknowledgements

Photographs from Flickr Creative Commons•Slide 2: Flood by US Geographical Society•Slide 4: Planning Close-up by Dan Foy; Panic by Nate Steiner•Slide 5: Texting by Staffan Scherz•Slide 8: Blog Ideas by Owen W Brown•Slide 10: This morning in the computer lab by Ted Sakshaug; Social media apps by Jason Howie•Slide 16: Work by bark•Slide 17: Fabulous Chicago ladies tweet @ChefMarcela by Nicole Yeary•Slide 18: Integration by susan•Slide 20: Question mark cookies 3 by Scott McLeod