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Facebook was used by citizens to report a fire in Edgewater, MD in April 2012. Mr. Peterson's home appeared to be one reported to be on fire via social media. He learned 30 minutes in to social monitoring that in fact, it was not his home, but for those 30 minutes it was terrifying to him. This presentation looks at how social media, from a victim's perspective has both positive and negative influences.
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May 10, 2012 Steve Peterson
Lessons Learned: Social Media Usage during Holiday Point
Marina Fire
Purpose • Assessment of communications
– Proponent Perspective (Benefits)
– Victim Perspective (Challenges)
• General observations
• Suggestions
Holiday Point Marina Fire
• Weather conditions: “Red Flag Warning”
• Four alarm fire
• Started at approximately 2 p.m. on Sunday April 15th
• 94 firefighters responded
• Fire contained by 4 p.m.
• Fire extinguished by 5 p.m.
• Destroyed storage shed
• Damaged three sailboats
Edgewater, MD - April 15, 2012
• 69 posts (84% of social
media communications that
day)
• 14 shares (day of fire)
• 39 shares (between day of
fire and April 19th)
• 13 tweets (16% of social
media communications that
day)
• 7 retweets
• 3 links to articles
• 1 map
Statistics
Main Contributor of Information: Edgewater-Davidsonville Patch 18 total posts (7 main posts/11 replies) 10 images or web article links (some redundant) 1 link to video 10 updates to main posts
Proponent Perspective • Real-time information sharing/updates
• Links to web pages
• Situational awareness
– Posts and tweets
– Photos and videos
• Eyewitness reports & participation
• Official word quoted
– Credibility established
Proponent Perspective (cont’d)
• Linkage between Facebook & Twitter
• Interfacing with end users
• Damage assessment
• Updates during recovery phase
• Multiple channels of communication
• Followed up on promises
Victim Perspective
Is my house
on fire?
Rapidly-moving??!!
It could be my house!
Involves houses…This could be my house!!
It’s spreading!
2nd Ave? I’m confused!
It’s a big fire!! Official word. Relieved!
General Observations • Simultaneous reporting caused by many primary posts
• Non-validated information retweeted 5 hours after fire (Twitterfeed)
• 5 dozen+ messages communicated between the first PIO tweet and the second tweet
• Information sharing increased post-incident
• Inaccurate timeline shows time of posts changed
Suggestions Opportunities exist for effective social media usage during emergencies if information providers…
…know who provides credible information
…quote sources of information in posts/tweets
…are selective in word choice and placement of information within Facebook
…do not take on more social media tools than they can handle
…understand social media communication dynamics
…are trained in crisis communications
…establish relationships with PIOs in advance
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