1/ Dear colleagues, as a result of extreme frustration with poorly executed social media accounts responsible for disaster information, I am imploring that you take the following actions listed in the thread below:
#EMGTwitter #smem #lesm #gsmchat
#EMGTwitter #smem #lesm #gsmchat
2/ (1) Disconnect any links you may have between Facebook and Twitter. Automatically posting from one account to another is lazy and leaves your audience without timely, accurate information. In an era of spam and viruses, why would anyone click on a link without context?
3/ (2) Do an audit of all of your accounts. Search for fake and misspelled accounts. Contact the government liaisons at each of the platforms and correct lost passwords to old accounts. Get imposter accounts deleted. For goodness sake, take these steps now.
4/ (3) Do an audit of other agency accounts. Who do you work with on a regular basis and what are their accounts? Who are the PIOs behind the account? Be able to pick up the phone and coordinate info - I beg you.
5/ (4) Correct and review where and how you publish your account information. I wish I hadn't but I actually came across a fire report that actually has the wrong twitter account from 2015 printed on it - and has been printed with the wrong account for days if not years.
6/ (5) CLICK ON A LINK BEFORE YOU POST IT. This one is pretty simple. Always test your published links, check where they go. Check with IT to pre-emptively make sure it has the bandwidth to endure multiple hits and prevent your website from crashing.
7/ (6) Map out your lanes. We always talk about staying in our lane as a PIO - what areas are your responsibility and what areas are the responsibility of others. In a JIC, you should use the "non-lane" accounts to point to a single account that is posting the current info
8/ (6.a) This is more than just sharing or re-tweeting. It is actively stating that agency X is the lead on the incident and source of new info and that you will share or re-post as appropriate and how to find that information.
9/ (7) If you are working a virtual JIC, schedule a briefing call at the start of each shift and review: who has the lead for each "lane" of info, critical messages, identified rumors, outstanding public and media questions, a timeline of expected releases, posts, and videos.
10/ (7.a) Just because you are the lead agency doesn't mean you aren't part of a JIC, so don't post in a silo. Take a few minutes to coordinate with other stakeholder agencies and tell them precisely how they can help you.
11/ (7.b) Be sure that before your call ends you have assigned out each of those responsibilities and tasks. Once again confirm the accounts where you are pointing the public to for information and who will be making those updates.
12/ (8) Be acutely aware of the information vacuum. If a lead agency is not providing what the public wants and needs, they will seek the info elsewhere and perhaps from you. Help those agencies develop a battle rhythm, that is the best way to avoid rumors due to the lack of info
13/ If you've read this thread, thanks for letting me vent. I know I'm Monday Morning Quarterbacking - but I also teach these skills on a regular basis. So, I'm committed to upping my teaching game if you help me spread the word about better practices for public communication!
