By Doug Page
Last March, Rhode Island experienced record flooding that at one point closed nearly 100 roads and 20 bridges. The state Department of Transportation used its RIDOT website, as well as social media like Facebook and Twitter, to keep the public advised of new closures.
“On a typical day, the RIDOT site sees about 2,100 hits,” said RIDOT spokesperson Dana Nolfe. “At the height of the flooding, we saw 84,000 hits.” Twitter followers jumped from double digits to 1,150.
In Texas, the use of Facebook and Twitter by the Plano Department of Emergency Management allows that city to push information to local communities instantly.
“Rather than posting information to a website and hoping citizens look at it, we can engage them online where they are,” said Hal Grieb, senior emergency management specialist.
Citizens no longer need a computer to access Twitter and Facebook; social media are available on their iPhones or BlackBerrys. Grieb said Plano also has a presence on YouTube, Flickr and MySpace that can be used for a unified message in the event of a disaster.
The use of social media in Rhode Island and Texas illustrates how emergency managers are currently using new media. It’s growing so fast, in fact, that one emergency manager says social media have become the elephant in the command center. The problem lies in the National Incident Management System.
“The application of NIMS guidelines and social media for emergency public information is currently counterproductive,” said Adam Crowe, of the Johnson County (Kan.) Office of Emergency Management.
NIMS calls for all information released to the public during an emergency to be reviewed and approved by incident commanders. But Crowe told Homeland1 that this structured review-and-approval process greatly reduces the effectiveness of social media.
“This is contradictory to the speed, pace and expectations of the social media community,” Crowe said. A paper he wrote recently appeared in the Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, exposing the flaw and calling for a NIMS review to see how social media use during a response can fit into that framework.
“My hope is that the article will inspire discussions at all levels on how to address this issue before it’s too late,” Crowe said.
In Crowe’s own Kansas county, the sheriff’s office already uses both Twitter and Facebook to communicate with the public. During a recent 25-hour stand-off with a hostile suspect, Johnson County deputies posted tweets and Facebook updates related to area closures. The same mechanism could be used in any emergency situation.
“Social media provides an instant and unfiltered message to your community. You don’t have to wait for a news broadcast, and your message is not changed by the media,” said Deputy Tom Erickson.
Erickson said the key to using social media successfully is to establish a presence and build a following.
“It’s too late to get in the social media game after an incident has already happened, because no one is listening,” he said. Erickson said the key is to develop a base of followers early, so when a disaster does occur, emergency managers can instantly communicate with the public.