Sometime shortly after the tragic events at Virginia Tech occurred our class read the following article:Virginia Tech: Social Media in Crisis Planning. This article discusses a CDC panel topic on public health care blogging in a social media world in which information is disseminated real time during a crisis. This panel discussion took place a day after the terrible tragedy at Virginia Tech. This crisis highlighted the need for officials to use social media tools as part of their crisis management plan. If the social media were viewed as a tool for enhancing communication it would be more widely recognized and its use would be more widespread. As the Virginia Tech tragedy was unfolding although school officials did not make use of these tools students used mobile phones, digital cameras, social networks such as Flickr, Facebook and MySpace, blogs and video to communicate with each other and to document the tragedy in real time. The question people were asking was why weren't the instant tools: Text and voice messages used by the university to notify students? Since almost all students are wired....this is the best way to communicate with them. Certainly during the Virginia Tech tragedy it could have saved lives by for example telling students not to go to class and to stay in their dorm rooms with the doors locked. In fact it would be advisable for every organization, business, schools and universities ( and even families) to use these tools as part of their crisis planning.
This article was a real "eye opener" in that it made me more conscious of the fact that today, people can be instantly connected to one another electronically though text messaging, IM, cell phones, and e-mails. And it is critical that our society take full advantage of these modes of instant communication especially during an emergency. Therefore, an integral part of any crisis management must include developing a social media strategy to enhance communication that disseminates vital information in real time especially during an emergency.
This article was a real "eye opener" in that it made me more conscious of the fact that today, people can be instantly connected to one another electronically though text messaging, IM, cell phones, and e-mails. And it is critical that our society take full advantage of these modes of instant communication especially during an emergency. Therefore, an integral part of any crisis management must include developing a social media strategy to enhance communication that disseminates vital information in real time especially during an emergency.
1 comment:
Obviously the Virginia Tech shooting was a horrible tragedy, and one of the biggest controversies was whether or not the school attempted to communicate properly with its students. In terms of a more efficient warning on the happenings, its seems that the school could have done more. Although it is easy to make these kinds of assumptions in retrospect, your post brings up a very interesting point on how the school could have handled the situation more effectively.
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