@CHVandergriff: in a recent Tweet wrote:

"Can not stand those who write blogs or start websites to pass along false information or "news" to the public."

Reality is a new blog only takes three minutes to create, about four minutes to register with search engines, one minute to write the false information, and forever for the false information to go away.

This is all the more reason for emergency managers to be involved in Social Media.  It only takes one tweet, Facebook wall post, blog note, to get folks to come running to some perceived threat.

If you are not involved in Social Media, reach out to the Virtual Operations Support Group, the Social Media for Emergency Management group, or the Oklahoma Virtual Operations Support Team for help.

The recent fire and blackout in Boston gave rise to the use of Social Media in Emergency Management.

While surely local media was aware of the event, little mention was made on the "National" media.  After all, it was a localized event.

Yet, Twitter was able to shine ... again ... as government users gave information to the Citizens so they could make the right decision at the right time.

For example, @AlertBoston is the Twitter Account for Boston Office of Emergency Management.  Through the event and early in the event, this account was giving information to the residents and other interested parties, along with @BostonFire and @Boston_Police scored major points by adding to the information coming from #BackBay, #BostonFire, and #BostonBlackout hashtags.

While monitoring these accounts, one would have little questions left about what happened, what's going on because it happened, and even some tips for the morning commute.

One individual, @ShaneAdamski, tweeted "Boston peeps: follow @BostonFire @BOSTON_EMS @AlertBoston for updates on the fire & power outage. Nice job team."

At the @GetMeOutNews account, there was an example of a volunteer curating and producing the information a resident might need during and after the event.  This is an example of how a volunteer could be used in a Virtual Operations Support Team to supplement your department's effort.  At one point, there was a blog about the event connected to the account showing a summary of what was happening.

There were issues with this however.  Many of the tweets during the event, especially from Government sources, did not include the popular hastags.  This would cause people who were only monitoring one hashtag to miss that message, possibly.

The other issue was that many tweets, especially from media, had links.  During a disaster, links should be minimized.  Not every phone is a smart phone with internet activity.

Transformer fire plunges Boston into darkness - Courant.com:

How are you using social media in your plan?  Do you have a Virtual Operations Support Team to help?

Social Media in Emergency Management is really taking off.

This week a number of my colleagues participated in an online social media drill.  Several have noted some very valuable lessons learned already.  It will be interesting to see the After Action Review.

One immediate takeaway was the overwhelming nature of digital information and the brainpower it takes to process it.  This is just one reason why "It's not about me; it's about WE" is so important.

The Concept of a Virtual Operations Support Team is important.

In Oklahoma, the VOST is lead by John Butler @OKcalvin who also leads the Oklahoma Crisismappers effort.

Since social media has three components, i.e. information dissemination, information gathering, and team building, it's easy to see how one would be overwhelmed during a disaster.

Please contact John to see how Oklahoma Crisis Mappers or the Oklahoma VOST can help you.