Natural disasters are hitting the U.S. and abroad more often, it seems. In an attempt to connect after disasters hit, family, friends, rescuers, relief agencies, healthcare workers and others have turned to social media – which one expert says is the right tool for the job.
Glen Gilmore, principal at Gilmore Business Network, a social media marketing firm, an adjunct professor of social media law and digital marketing at Rutgers University and an adjunct instructor at Texas A&M University's National Emergency Response and Rescue Training Center, shared 30 reasons why it pays to use social media in an emergency.
- It's real time
- It's self correcting
- It instantly connects you to millions of people around the globe.
- It never sleeps.
- It connects you to hundreds, if not thousands, of relief agencies.
- It connects you to thousands of emergency response professionals.
- It's almost always at the scene of an emergency when it happens – or it's there moments afterwards.
- It lets emergency responders monitor actual conversations at the scene of the emergency in real time
- It provides numerous, real-time reports on the effects of the emergency.
- It provides real-time photos of the effects of an emergency.
- It provides real-time videos of the effects of an emergency.
- It provides numerous, real-time reports on the success or failure of relief efforts.
- It provides real-time photos of the success or failure of relief efforts.
- It provides real-time videos of the success or failure of relief efforts.
- It takes away much of the guesswork of emergency response.
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- On Twitter, hashtags let emergency responders, those in need of relief, relief workers and volunteers focus their listening and conversations to streamline the process of providing assistance when and where it is needed most.
- It can provide real-time injury/casualty reports.
- It can give real-time information on missing, separated or found emergency victims.
- GPS capabilities can let rescuers know exactly where victims are.
- GPS capabilities, as well as information from conversations shared, can help with crisis mapping.
- Listening to social conversation can provide critical information on developing crises and permit the introduction of information within the same networks that may defuse a crisis.
- Armies of volunteers stand at the ready to assist in the sifting of information.
- You don't have to worry about matching or changing radio frequencies. (Not to worry, Twitter users know to turn to Facebook when the "fail whale" appears!)
- The public already turns to social networks when an emergency occurs; they're already there listening and communicating when emergency response professionals are ready to communicate.
- It's a powerful way of communicating emergency preparedness information to a vast audience of listeners from an incredibly diverse demographic spectrum.
- Numerous, well-established accounts with scores of followers can be tapped to help curate critical information and pass it on to millions. (Naysayers, please revisit point 2.)
- The vastness of social network usage lets information be targeted as well.
- You can tap into nearly any resource in a single tweet.
- Twitter Lists can be used to identify particular sources or resources.
- It's easy to use
Gilmore says he would "love to see this list expanded" to "provide an updated post and a more complete list." If you have ideas for Gilmore, you can share them here on his blog. Follow him on Twitter @GlenGilmore.
