Developing a Social Media Communications Plan
Social media has taken a lot of hits in the last few years for spreading false information and dubious advice. Still, the reality is that many people turn to social media sites for disaster information rather than traditional communications channels, with a recent study finding 70% of Americans turn to social media for information during a disaster. Given these statistics, does your organization have a plan for using social media in Emergency Management? Does your organization have a plan for engaging in social media during an emergency? How do you plan on getting your message out? Do you have a plan to provide accurate, official information to counter false or misleading information? Have you considered using social media in your broader incident communications plan? Have you considered how you might monitor social media for community information and how that information can be fed back into the incident command process?
Developing a social media plan as part of your organization’s incident management communication plan enables direct engagement with the public. It gives emergency managers a way to bypass the traditional unidirectional pathway of information from the media to the public. Effective use of social media can improve the efficiency of information dissemination and prevent potential misrepresentation by posting directly from the source, but it should be well thought out before an emergency or incident.
While the use of social media as a communication tool during incident management is increasing, social media was not “specifically designed to support emergency response” and crisis communication; thus, there are several potential challenges to consider prior to using social media as an incident communications tool. Challenges associated with the use of social media include messages containing critical information getting lost in the multitude of social media messages, the spread of false information, conflicting messaging from stakeholders, and the communication method’s reliance on cell service and internet access.
To assist in planning the use of social media in an emergency, incident frameworks and guidelines have been developed by a number of organizations. Two such tools are the Social Media Emergency Management (SMEM) Guidance Tool, and the Crisis and Emergency Risk Communications (CERC) framework.
Facebook and Google also have dedicated crisis response tools and teams that provide support for use of social media in emergencies. See the Additional Resources sections below for more information and lines to the websites.
Social Media Emergency Management Guidance Tool Fact Sheet
The SMEM Guidance Tool is a free, online tool that provides users with a simple, step-by-step line of questioning to create plans to improve their organization’s SMEM operations. The SMEM Guidance Tool is automated, web-accessible, and mobile to enhance usability for practitioners who often have limited time to dedicate to SMEM planning and operations efforts.
https://www.dhs.gov/publication/st-social-media-emergency-management-guidance-tool
Crisis and Emergency Risk Communications (CERC) Framework
In 2002, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) created the CERC framework and accompanying manual to aid in an organization’s communication of crisis-related information to the public during public health emergencies. The CERC framework merges risk and crisis communication concepts to foster effective messaging during a crisis. Because of the Framework’s reliance on electrical power and cellphone towers to relay disaster-related messages to the community, it is crucial that the framework is used in conjunction with primary communication methods such as radios and emergency alert systems.
https://emergency.cdc.gov/cerc/index.asp
Your Social Media Plan
Below are some additional questions to consider when developing a social media communication plan for your healthcare organization. These questions are not exhaustive; instead, they are intended to initiate and facilitate a conversation around necessary aspects of a social media plan. The Additional Resources section provides links to tools and articles related to a social media communications plan.
-Who manages your social media platforms?
- Does your organization have an assigned group or staff member that manages social media? Do many groups manage different platforms?
- Has your organization surveyed social media sites to be aware of which platforms your organization appears on?
- Is someone assigned to monitor social media during an incident? It is important that false or incorrect information is monitored and responded to in a timely fashion so rumors can be quickly dismissed, and accurate information is presented to the public.
-Does your organization have a social media communication plan?
- Who is responsible for your organization’s social media sites? While Marketing may manage the site, would they manage the information in an emergency or disaster?
- Is there a defined communications plan that allows Incident Command to communicate with the social media manager?
- Who will approve the social media messaging in an emergency?
- Does the social media team participate in emergency drills?
- Is there a plan to have a team to manage social media in an incident? In an emergency, a single marketing staff member or Public Information Officer may be overwhelmed with monitoring and responding to a flood of social media messages.
-What social media platforms does your organization maintain an active presence on?
- When you have determined which platforms your organization is using you will need to determine if the platform is appropriate for providing emergency management information. Instagram may not reach the audience you need in an emergency, but Facebook’s Local Alerts tool may be perfect.
Additional Resources
Facebook’s Crisis Response Tool
Facebook’s Crisis Response Tool provides two key features that may be of interest to healthcare Emergency Managers. “Local Alerts” allow a healthcare organization’s social media team to post alerts about an emergency incident. “Safety Check” provides a tool for staff to mark themselves as safe and to check the status of loved ones in a disaster. Learn more about Facebook’s Crisis Response Tools.
The Google Crisis Response Team manages the Google Public Alerts program that pushes emergency information to Google Maps and Google Search results. Google also provides other information and resources on its Crisis Response Team website.
Learn more about the Google Response Team and Google Crisis Alerts
Emergency Communication in the Age of Social Media Six tips for using social media for disaster communications
An excellent article about how Emergency Management must engage on social media in a disaster and key tips about the issues that may be encountered during a disaster.
EMS1.Com website, By Gary Sparger Feb 3, 2020
Facebook “Today In” local information alerting tool overview
https://www.facebook.com/help/publisher/1064049677089136
X (Formally Twitter)
X has a posted crisis misinformation policy that provides information about how X will seek to reduce misinformation during a crisis event.
https://blog.x.com/en_us/topics/company/2022/introducing-our-crisis-misinformation-policy