Emergency management organizations and agencies that are restricting social media from their networks may be doing more harm than good.
Allowing access to social networking sites may actually boost productivity if not morale. Many large organizations use social media to boost sales, encourage team work and generate information and helpful leads. So too, can emergency managers find these tools to be productive. Agencies can quickly share lessons learned and other helpful information, faster than can be done even by phone or email. While there is obviously a need for a social media policy to avoid the posting of inappropriate messages, (see a cautionary tale here) the ability to instantly communicate with other emergency managers as well as the public is invaluable.
Additionally, there is value gained in using tools like Twitter to put out EXACTLY the message you want to your followers. Why not advertise? Does your organization’s web site home page have a link that says, “Follow Us on Twitter” yet? Why not? As overwhelming as the world of social media can be, on the other side of that anxiety attack is the most control we’ve ever had as emergency managers to manage the conversation. Want to know what people are talking about on Twitter? The real value from this social media wonder IS NOT the status updates – sure that’s cute for funny quips and posting tiny URLs, (wondering what a “Tiny URL” is?) but the real value in Twitter is the search capabilities. Try the Twitter Search (www.search.twitter.com): plug in any topic and you will get a list of the most recent tweets about it. Want to know what is REALLY going on during a disaster? Search it on Twitter rather than Google…you will be surprised how many people are tweeting from the actual scene! (Hint here: they’re not all responders) If you’re a public figure, you should be doing a Twitter search on yourself every day – want to know how you’re really holding up in the public poles?
Gone are the days where the work we do can be done in a silo – everything we do as emergency managers is open to public scrutiny. But this is a good thing! This level of accountability should motivate us to take all of our planning and preparedness initiatives to the next level. Our co-workers are no longer limited to the locale we serve. Tweet about your highs and lows. Connect with colleagues and coworkers on LinkedIn, create fan pages and group pages for initiatives and projects that would be better served with more input or a different perspective. Worried about input overload? Don’t; you’re still the project manager. Use the information to your benefit. Worried someone might steal your ideas? Good; that means you must be doing something right! Emergency management is only effective if everyone is on the same page and working toward the same finish.
Don’t know how to manage all of those status updates, groups and fan pages? Try a handy utility updating site – my favorite is www.Ping.fm. Here you can update one status and all of the other social media sites you manage will automatically be updated with the same message…or you can make groups of your sites, just like with your email. Utility sites can manage anything from the usual suspects like FaceBook, LinkedIn, Twitter and MySpace, to the more obscure or lesser known sites like Yammer, Plurk and Ning (here’s a ridiculously long, but probably not exhaustive, list of social media). AND, unlike anything else you do in emergency management, it’s ALL FREE!
The point being, rather than shy away from or limit access to social media, embrace it! Chances are your people are already using it anyway; why not encourage it and use it to your benefit? Anyone who has ever had a web security page pop up while trying to get through a Google search at work can tell you it’s beyond frustrating; it’s usually blocking something related to the job at hand. Ultimately, employers who are trying to reduce the amount of time workers spend socializing rather than working may really be doing the opposite. And if you’re that worried about your employees goofing off and not being productive, you may want to reconsider your hiring practices.
