Series introduction (October 12, 2011)

Part 1: starting from scratch (October 23, 2011)

Part 2: Setting objectives and measurement (October 23, 2011)

Part 3: Choosing your first social network (November 2, 2011)

Part 4 Interactive use of social media (November 22, 2011)

Part 5: monitoring social media as a routine and going into crisis mode (December 20, 2011)

Part 6: Conversational use of social media (February 11, 2012)

Part 7: Operational use of social media (April 15, 2012)

PART 8: Integrated use of social media 

A few months ago, when I started this series ...I set out to lay out the various steps that mark the progression of agencies/organizations down the social convergence adoption path. In the series introduction, I had identified the following steps: 

• NO SM: we still hear some EM types go: ..." I don't have time or the resources, or the money, to get into social media ..." or "... I don't know enough about it" ... or even ..."it's a fad and will go a way, we need official tools to communicate ..."  What's our job: to educate, prod, convince and lead by example. Expand our knowledge of best practices and show good ROI.
• Limited use of SM: ... the first step is ... acceptance ... social media platforms are now key parts of our communities' fabric. We have to move at the speed of our audience and that means, in some cases, using social media as an old-fashioned one-way communications tool, Think of Twitter (for example), as a key component of your alerting/notification process. How difficult is that to sell to senior execs? Key argument: all traditional media outlets monitor social media so using it will get many audiences informed quickly.
• Interactive use of SM: now we move a bit further down on the engagement spectrum. We are into the realm of using more than one SM platform, integrating it into a good web-based information strategy. More importantly, we have convinced our bosses that we need to monitor SM because we can find very quickly what's being said about us. We know who some of the key "influencers" are, those who help shape public perception of our response.
• Conversational use of SM: the first real true stage of social media engagement, the Listen, Learn, Engage formula. Now that we know who our key stakeholders who may be helpful to us are, we actually go out and engage with them on social media platforms. We know who to interact with to counter false information and dispel rumours. A key selling point: engaging in SM will help us create a favourable public perception of our response.
• Operational use of SM: this is not only for the PIO or the JIC anymore, although SM play a key role in the provision of prompt, effective and accurate emergency information. Now, we're taking advantage of the "age of social convergence" where mobile devices/tech + SM = empowered citizens and volunteers ... This means we become aware of, and use to some degree, data provided by digital volunteers and crisis mappers. We use social media as a volunteer mobilization tool or we work with agencies/partners who do just that. Key selling point: adding data provided by volunteers/sensors out there in the areas affected by the disaster or from other places, improves our understanding of what's going on.
• Integrated use of SM: The last step in this continuum ... where outside data has been validated, where we have worked with volunteer organizations and help train their people so we have confidence in the info they provide. We integrate those data streams and analyses in the EOC. More than that, it's use is expanded in all aspects of EM, from preparedness and mitigation to recovery. In the response phase, that data provided thru mobile technologies, GIS-enabled software and SM platform is now an integral factor in the production of our common operating picture/Situational awareness. SM is now a fully integrated part of our electronic emergency management systems and a proven volunteer coordination tool.

Today we reach the last step which is described in the highlighted section above. The truth is that very few organizations, if any, have reached this level yet. The reason: it takes particularly visionary leadership to fully adopt and believe in the power of the crowd and the power of the cloud ... This is especially true in a field such as emergency management which still relies heavily on a military and law enforcement legacy where info control and chain of command are everything!

But things are slowly changing and as the number of seats at the emergency management table grows so does the level of acceptance of the valuable contribution that volunteers and citizens can bring. This article by Eric Holdeman gives hope to people like me.

So what does an integrated use of social networks look like in emergency management programs? Let start with the pillars: 

What about in the EOC or the command post? Well, my contention is that social convergence (the marriage of mobile technologies and social network) will result in the greatest enhancement to situational awareness since the invention of radio. Why? Because emergency managers and incident commanders can not get actionable info in real-time from various sources.

Truth is, the most valuable commodity for EM and IC folk is intel/info to support their decision making. That's what an integrated use of SM in EM means for Command Staff personnel, from the I/C (incident commander) to the EIO/PIO (emergency info officer/public info officer). Nobody articulates that better than Chief Bill Boyd of the Bellingham Fire Dept in Washington State: