I have already written on a suggested approach to stage the adoption of SM for emergency management organizations. The key is a step-by-step and measured foray into engagement with your audiences and stakeholders. But often enough, the very first step can be the hardest to take for many agencies and emergency managers.

We hear arguments such as "we have no policy ..." or "we don't have the money or resources ..."  In my opinion, neither of these are the true factor limiting the use of social networks. Rather, we can explain this hesitation, or even refusal, to get up to the 21st century and catch up to the rest of society, to one thing: lack of vision. So, let's look at these arguments and how they can be countered.

• Absence of policy: it can be a monumental challenge for agencies, particularly at higher levels of government. However, with a minimal strategy and very few and clear objectives, the entry into the social networking sphere can be a painless experience for most organizations. Are there risks? Certainly, but the benefits clearly outweigh them. If you truly have to have a full-fledged policy, then there is no need to re-invent the wheel. Many organizations have done the work for you! 
• Lack of resources: well, most social networking platforms are free and there are many social monitoring tools that are also free. Yes, I understand that free has a hidden cost. However, more and more organizations are considering participation in, and monitoring of, social media to be a mission-critical function of their program, especially during any response phase. The truth is that in an era where information rules, keeping your pulse on what's being said on SM platforms will give you an edge. Most organizations can count on younger, enthusiastic workers, or even interns, that could perform basic SM monitoring for them. 

Another set of arguments relates to the use of technical volunteers and data/information gathered through social media to enhance situational awareness. These were very aptly summarized in a recent report on crisis mapping efforts in Haiti.

Let's look at these in turn:

• For many senior EM  officials, relying on, or even using, data provided by volunteers (so-called non-trusted agents/sources) is anathema. That mentality of info and data control should now be relegated to where it belongs: the history bin. People have the ability and the desire to participate in the response to any disasters. EM organizations have to embrace that fact. So, there are a few examples, where official agencies (think of the UN: OCHA, WFP and UNESCO) have linked up with the technical volunteer community. Elsewhere, there are efforts underway to provide basic emergency management training to volunteers. The invaluable contribution of crowdsourcing and crisis mapping in Australia, New Zealand, Haiti, Japan and now the US Midwest is starting to change a lot of minds. The result is more trust, vastly increased reputation for professionalism and dedication. 
• Lack of resources: as the groups involved in crisis mapping and crowdsourcing (from CrisisCommons to Ushadidi, from CrisisMappers to Humanity Road, the SBTF and many others) become more and more accepted by official agencies and even called upon to supplement official bodies (such as in the crisis in North Africa, see OCHA), more volunteers and more resources are becoming available.
• Info validation and accuracy ... Ah! the old bugaboo ! ... we hear the same arguments: "how can we trust social media? ... my reply: "how do you know that reports coming through the 9-1-1 system are valid ? The simple fact is the whole crowdsourcing movement and social networks in general, have an organic ability to self-correct and validate. People will take it upon themselves to correct misinformation and shun those who propagate false rumours and/or data. One key danger remains the possible misuse of social networks and crisis data by organized groups or event rogue states (such as the Sudanese govt tried to do with Darfur and South Sudan) ... vigilance is key.
• Finally, the many success stories are slowly building capabilites across the planet. In many cases, this is helped by the fact that the use of mobile devices and technology is often more prevalent in countries that are more recently industrialized or in the process of becoming so. And that capability is also spreading here in Canada.

I hope that this brief overview will prove useful and I welcome your comments. For more information on the subjects and organizations refered to in this post, I enjoin you to visit my Google Reader Shared Items page where related stories are  posted on a daily basis.