One of our speakers, John Shea from FEMA External Affairs (@femainfocus), has shared some details about how the Federal Emergency Management Agency is using Twitter for real-time incident tracking and communications. We thought this was really interesting information from which both businesses and other government agencies could learn, so we asked if we could share it with the TWTRCON community, and he said yes. Here’s the email from John, which describes how FEMA is using Twitter for messaging, monitoring, customer service and networking:
HOW WE ARE USING TWITTER
FEMA uses its account through the Office of External Affairs to provide outreach and track trends. Its capability for operational situational awareness has been identified and used for months in local and state emergency operations. Aggregate sites like www.tweetgrid.com and www.tweetscan.com allow for real time incident tracking. This information is populated by individuals at the scene, as well as officials and nongovernmental agencies. It is conceptually similar to a webEOC tool that is open to the public for input and review.
FEMA External Affairs tracks issues to identify emerging trends that will affect communications needs. This includes citizen concerns, messaging from advocacy groups, state and local official messaging and official releases through other federal agencies involved. Recent incidents include the Boulder fires, Washington floods, Inauguration as well as recovery-based events like Hurricane Ike.
FEMA External Affairs uses its account to deliver its messages in a way that supplements, not replaces, official communications. This means an adherence to JIC structure and ICS principles. For example, much of the messaging we provide is to raise awareness for official statements or press releases already posted online. During incidents, FEMA takes a position of rebroadcasting official messages from state and local agencies on its network of followers. Rather than compete with local information, FEMA External Affairs takes the position of supporting its partners in getting their messages out.
Message output:
- Daily messaging regarding sitreps.
- Tweet press releases when posted.
- Update on videos and photos.
- Tweet declarative statements regarding specific events and agency status.
Message analysis:
- Monitoring concerns and trends among media and public.
- Looking for signs of message penetration among users (are our releases being commented on and retweeted)? Is there still confusion regarding a position we have clarified?
Customer Service:
- Searching for inquiries regarding FEMA policy and assistance.
- Replying to appropriate inquiries in public forum that points to referring online materials.
- Educate the public on mission and involvement in community through official channels.
- Answer industry specific questions through reference to online policy material.
Networking with Partners:
- Post new position openings for emergency management communications.
- Following the accounts of emergency managers, media and ngos.
- Retweeting applicable content to support their message.
One of the reasons we’re so excited about TWTRCON DC is that many government agencies are very advanced in their use of real-time search and micro-blogging tools, and we think that the sharing of information that will happen between government agencies and brands will be really valuable.
We’ll keep sharing advance information from our speakers and case studies as we get it – let us know if this is helpful!
