New Red Cross Study Shows Citizens Increasingly Using Social Media During Emergencies

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Craig Fugate addressed the American Red Cross Emergency Social Data Summit on the growing use of social media in emergency management.  Fugate discussed ways social media can be used by emergency managers and the public alike to communicate during a disaster.

"As social media becomes more a part of our daily lives, people are turning to it during emergencies as well," said Fugate.  "We need to utilize these tools, to the best of our abilities, to engage and inform the public, because no matter how much federal, state and local officials do, we will only be successful if the public is brought in as part of the team."

Fugate has made the use of social media and mobile technology a priority in FEMA's outreach to the public.  This includes the launch of a mobile version of FEMA's website, m.fema.gov, earlier this year as well as the capability for disaster survivors to register for federal assistance directly on their smartphones.

Watch a video of Fugate talking about FEMA's new mobile registration feature.

Following the flooding in Tennessee this spring, FEMA and the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency teamed up to create a Facebook page where users could get updates from the state, share information, and learn about resources that may be available in the ongoing recovery.

Fugate's remarks came after the American Red Cross recently released a survey, highlighting the public's use of social media during emergencies.  According to the survey, an increasing number of people turn to social media for updated information during an emergency, and nearly three out of four users believe that posting an urgent request for help via a social media site would be an effective way to reach local authorities and receive a response within an hour.

Read more about the American Red Cross survey.

Follow FEMA online at www.twitter.com/fema, www.facebook.com/fema, and www.youtube.com/fema.  Also, follow Administrator Craig Fugate's activities at www.twitter.com/craigatfema.  The social media links provided are for reference only.  FEMA does not endorse any non-government websites, companies or applications.

McLean County EMA's use of Internet-based Collaboration

The McLean County Emergency Management Agency has long been a proponent of keeping in touch with our community through a variety of avenues. The Agency's government-hosted webpage can be accessed at www.mcleancountyil.gov/EMA/ and provides basic information about agency-related services. The Emergency Management Association of McLean County has partnered with McLean County EMA to provide web hosting for the website on which you're viewing this article. This website provides more detailed information about the Agency with an emphasis on the work performed by the Operations Team, the response arm of the McLean County EMA.

We maintain an active presence on Facebook as a way to readily provide information about the Agency within a site that members frequent on a very regular basis. Our goal with our Facebook page is to provide timely updates on pertinent information to our community without overwhelming each person's status update views due to numerous posts in a given week.

We have launched a new Community Information Service designed to deliver important and timely information to McLean County residents in our area using the latest technology. This service, Nixle, delivers trustworthy and important neighborhood-level public safety and community event notifications instantly sent to you by cell phone text message, email, and web. There is no Spam or Advertising associated with this service. Nixle is available at no cost (standard text message rates apply for cell phone subscribers who do not have text plans with their cell phone providers). The service is simple to use, reliable and trusted.