MCUrgent

A Shared Emergency Information Network

Getting the word out

withsocial media

Carol A. Spencer, Digital & Social Media ManagerMorris County NJ November 1, 2014

NJ Major Disasters or Floods• Hurricane Floyd, Sept 1999

6 NJ deaths, $53M damage

• Severe storms, mudslides, August 20002,700 homes damaged

• Torrential downpours, July 20041,000 homes damaged

• Hurricane Ivan, Sept 2004

• Flooding disaster, April 200543% of NJ impacted

• Severe storms, heavy rains, June 2006

• Severe storms, flooding, April 2007

• Nor’easter, March 2010

• Hurricane Irene, August 2011

• Tropical Storm Lee, Sept 2011

• Halloween Snowstorm, October 2011

• Superstorm Sandy, October 2012346,000 homes destroyed, 37 fatalities, Billions in damages

People need information in a crisis

• What roads are closed?

• Where can I find shelter?

• Are my family members okay?

• How long might the power be out?

• How high is the river?

• Where are charging stations?

• Is information rumor or fact?

• Where can I get ice and water?

Finding information can be difficult

• Town websites– Maintenance typically contractor or volunteer and not

typically updated 24/7– If hosted locally, could be offline due to power issues

• County or OEM websites– Information typically coming from towns– Towns can’t update County website– County doesn’t have 24/7 web staff

• Limited or incorrect information in the press

While government is actively working during an emergency, the public doesn’t know emergency

responders are doing anything without information!

When disseminating information…

Situation updates need to:

– be timely and trustworthy

– originate from the source

– be accessible even without power

– be available 24/7

– be device independent

– cross municipal boundaries

– be freely available (no subscription or membership required)

– be accessed anywhere

Crafting a solution

MCUrgent (Morris County Urgent):

– grabs information at the source

– aggregates it

– make it available so the public can:

• view it

• use it

• parse it

• share it

Using Twitter to Share Information

Messages can be posted from a desktop, laptop, mobile device

Message can be retrieved from a desktop, laptop, mobile device

Subscription-free access

Fast Follow text messages

Twitter users can retweet (share), search by #hashtag, upload pictures

True social media use allows citizen contribution & sharing:

Twitter users can add #hashtags to their own postings

Twitter users can message @MCUrgent

Tweets can be geo-coded which includes location data

Tweets can be mapped so emergency responders can determine primary response locations

What Twitter IS:

• A news service, a microblog

• Information-only notification methodology

• Technology dependent notification

• 140 characters only Very brief announcements or links to more information

• Available on multiple media Computer, laptop, wireless, smartphone, tablets

• Available without registration

What Twitter is NOT:• A formal, guaranteed notification system

– No guarantee that notices will be posted

– No guarantee on uptime

– No guarantee that applications that pull Twitter feed will function

• The sole notification system – TV, radio, Twitter, Facebook, text messaging, reverse 9-1-1, email must all be used

• A Substitute for an official emergency notification service

Using Facebook to Share Info

Messages can be posted from a desktop, laptop, mobile device

Message can be retrieved from a desktop, laptop, mobile device

Access requires an account

Links available to individual messages

Facebook users can comment on and share posts

Facebook is the largest social network in the US

Facebook messages can be up to 2,000 characters

Photos and videos can be embedded in Facebook messages

Facebook commenting policies are a must for gov’t accounts

Inappropriate Facebook posts should be deleted.

Inaccurate Facebook posts should be addressed.

Our vision of MCUrgent

Morris Twp

Parsippany

Denville

Riverdale

Dover

Towns create a tweet

#hashtag post

#MCParsip RT 46 WB between New Rd and Rt 202/Parsippany Rd flooded. All lanes closed. 6:37 AM Mar 15th via Twitter

Our vision of MCUrgent

Towns create a tweet

#hashtag post

Twitter(MCUrgent)

Facebook(MCUrgent)

Morris Twp

Parsippany

Denville

Riverdale

Dover

Our vision of MCUrgent

Towns create a tweet

#hashtag post

Twitter(MCUrgent)

Facebook(MorrisCountyNJ)

Twitter(MorrisCountyNJ)

Facebook(Town page)

Twitter(Town feed)

Morris Twp

Parsippany

Denville

Riverdale

Dover

Facebook(MCUrgent)

Social Media Spreads the Message Quickly Twitter

(MCUrgent)

Facebook(MorrisCountyNJ)

Twitter(MorrisCountyNJ)

Facebook(Town page)

Twitter(Town feed)

Facebook(MCUrgent)

3,881

9,142

6,618

2,262

157

235

22,295 people could get the message with just a single click of the mouse or tap on a mobile device.

Twitter “Fast Follow” users are not included here so the contacted number is even higher.

MCUrgentin practice

MCUrgentin practice

Summary of MCUrgent

• What: Emergency notifications fromparticipating towns: MCUrgent

• Web: MorrisCountyNJ.gov Twitter widgetTown info on town website if they want

• Social: Twitter.com/MCUrgentMCUrgent.org / .net / .com / .infoFacebook.com (Morris County Office of Emergency Management)

• SMS: text follow MCUrgent to 40404

Contact Information

Morris County Office of Public Information

Website : MCUrgent.com(includes templates for posters, postcards, icons,

etc.)

Email : PublicInformation@co.morris.nj.us

Facebook : Facebook.com/MorrisCountyNJ

Facebook : Facebook.com/MCUrgent

Twitter : Twitter.com/MorrisCountyNJ

Twitter : Twitter.com/MCUrgent

MCUrgent

A Shared Emergency Information Network

Getting the word out

withsocial media

Carol A. Spencer, Digital & Social Media ManagerMorris County NJ November 1, 2014