Online Tools and Resources for Risk Communication

How to use social media as part of your plan

Presenter: Kevin Q. Harvey

kharvey@gmail.com

Preparing for Emergencies or Disasters:

Continuity of Operations & Risk Communications
For California Indian Health Centers, Tribal Representatives,
Public Health Officers and First Responders
June 23-24, 2010

About Social Media

What is Social Media?

Social media, sometimes called Web 2.0, is an umbrella term that describes websites
and applications that connect people by facilitating social networking, collaboration
and participation between users. A hallmark of social media is the user generated
content, as contrasted with the editorially controlled style of old media. Users are now
able to:
• Create their own web pages
• Create read/write blogs
• Create and share images and videos
• Re-mix materials they find online
• Network with colleagues

How many people are using Social Media now?

Worldwide, there are about:1
• 540 Million on Facebook
• 310 Million on Wikipedia
• 230 Million using Blogspot
• 109 Million on YouTube (U.S. only)
• 96 Million on Twitter
• 72 Million on MySpace
• 60 Million users on LinkedIn
• 31 Million on Skype

According to the Nielson Company, in May 2010, U.S. consumers spent an average of
6 hours, 13 minutes a month using social networking websites. Of all active U.S.
Internet households, 75% visited a social networking site, 21% of U.S. adults online

1
The estimated, unduplicated number of people who visit a site over a specific month. Sources:
http://www.google.com/adplanner/static/top1000/ (April, 2010);
http://www.quantcast.com/youtube.com (April, 2010)
Online Tools and Resources for Risk Communication Kevin Q. Harvey

publish or own a blog, and 55% have at least one or more social networking profiles.2

2
http://en-us.nielsen.com/main/news/news_releases/2010/june/nielsen_and_mckinsey

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Growth in User-Generated Content

Why use social media?

In Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication, social media:
• Incorporates processes and systems that reach people in ways in which they
communicate (need to be where people are).
• Leverages unique characteristics of emerging channels.
• Has the capability of segmenting information so it is more tailored to a
particular audience.
• Can get data into the hands of people that need it in the way that they want it.
• Facilitates interactive communication and community.
• Allows a response to the community that wants the information without the
mass media filter.
• Empowers people in being part of a conversation and help them better recover
and better prepare.

According to the Department of Heath and Human Resources (HHS), using social
media tools can help them in our work by enhancing the government’s ability to:
• Ensure transparency and expand our reach by sharing information with
stakeholders and being responsive to their reactions via interactive channels.
• Increase public engagement and participation by obtaining input from
citizens and others outside the government.
• Increase our effectiveness by collaboratively sharing information within and
across departments and agencies.3

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) uses social media “to provide
users with access to credible, science-based health information when, where, and how
you want it. A variety of social media tools are used to reinforce and personalize
messages, reach new audiences, and build a communication infrastructure based on
open information exchange.”4
3
HHS Center for New Media (http://newmedia.hhs.gov/)
4
Social Media at CDC (http://www.cdc.gov/SocialMedia)

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Social media represents a new format to communicate with the public and for the
public to communicate with you. It is an opportunity to get into the conversation that
people are already having in the social networks that they have already created.

Although driven by technology, social media is about people and content. The tools
provide a way for the content to be shared and spread more effectively. Since new
media is citizen driven, individuals have much more power to create, spread, and
amplify both good and bad information. Public Health needs to be in the game in
order to help people get information in the way they want it and to use that to have
better conversations and ultimately to make better decisions. To be in the game, you
have to know how information is spread across different platforms and networks, to
see where the conversation is, and how to jump in if you see that it is going in the
wrong direction.

In crisis situations, there will be many voices. Public health can be one of those
voices, but can also use the on the ground voice of the people as part of their
communication plan. Social media has changed the landscape of crisis and emergency
risk communication. Public heath and emergency responders need to understand that
landscape and participate in it.

Social Networking Sites

Definition: Social networking sites are web-based services that allow individuals to (1)
construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, (2) articulate a list of
other users with whom they share a connection, and (3) view and traverse their list of
connections and those made by others within the system. Most sites support the
maintenance of pre-existing social networks, but others help strangers connect based on
shared interests, political views, or activities. Their backbone consists of visible profiles
that display an articulated list of Friends who are also users of the system.5

Not long ago, social networking was limited to teenagers at sites like MySpace and
Friendster. Today, adults have joined the social networking bandwagon with sites like
Facebook (the most popular social networking site) and LinkedIn (social networking for
professionals).

Facebook
Website: http://www.facebook.com/
Description: Facebook is a social networking website launched on February 4, 2004.
Users can join networks organized by city, workplace, school, and region to connect
and interact with other people. People can also add friends and send them messages,
and update their personal profile to notify friends about themselves. Facebook has
millions of users, but you create your own home page and network. After you become
a Facebook member, you can invite friends and relatives to join your list of friends.
5
Boyd, d. m., & Ellison, N. B. (2007). Social network sites: Definition, history, and scholarship. Journal of
Computer-Mediated Communication, 13(1), article 11.
http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol13/issue1/boyd.ellison.html

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When you visit your Facebook page, you can update your "status," by sharing what
you're doing or what you're thinking. Your friends will see that update on their pages
the next time they visit the site, and they can comment on your status or send you
private messages about it. You can also share photos, videos, and website links with
your friends and see the photos, videos, and links that they've posted.

Businesses and non-profits have made a considerable presence on Facebook, mainly

through Facebook Pages, a public profile that enables them to share your information
with Facebook users. CDC launched the official CDC Facebook page in May 2009 to
communicate up-to-date information about H1N1 flu. This page communicates
featured health information daily and also highlights new social media information.

Uses: Provide up-to-date information to followers, network with constituents.

Cost: Free

LinkedIn
Website: http://www.linkedin.com/
Description: LinkedIn is a social networking site for professionals. Many people use
LinkedIn in order to find and share opportunities. Many use it to manage their career
and find new work opportunities. LinkedIn groups provide a forum to discuss a
particular field or topic.
Uses: LinkedIn can be used for:
• Hosting your professional profile and finding others that have similar
professional interests.
• Getting hold of people in companies or organizations that you want to do
business with. It's far easier to have a way in when you both know someone in
common.
• Keeping track of colleagues and clients who move companies and to see what
they are doing career wise.
• Stay in contact with work related colleagues.
• Re-connecting with former co-workers and colleagues (often through the
“People you may know” feature).
• Join groups and participate in their discussion forums.
Cost: Free

Blogs
Definition: Blogs (short for web-logs) are websites with regular updates
(in reverse chronological order – newest update at the top) and
typically combine text, images, video and links to other webpages.
Blogs range from the informal and personal, taking on the tone of a
diary or journal entry, to the serious, including providing news updates
and political commentary. Most blogs encourage dialogue by allowing
their readers to leave comments. Microblogging is a form of blogging,
but the content is much smaller, consisting of a short sentence or
sentence fragment. A microblog can also include an image, video or

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link.

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Blogger
Website: http://www.blogger.com
Description: Blogger is Google’s free tool for creating blogs. Setting up a Blogger
account takes three steps. Create an account, name your blog, and choose a template.
You can host multiple blogs with the same account name. Blogger will host your blog
for free at http://yourblogname.blogspot.com.
Uses: Develop news-room style blog for pre-event education, updates, etc. May be
used for updates on public health events, news, resources, etc. to help individuals and
families to be aware of and prepared for health hazards and public health disasters.
Cost: Free

Other popular blogging tools include Wordpress (http://wordpress.org/)

and Typepad (http://www.typepad.com/).

Twitter
Website: http://www.twitter.com/
Description: Twitter is the most popular microblogging service. It lets users post
very short messages, no more than 140 characters per post, and lets you follow a set of
users ("friends") from one dashboard.
Uses: Use Twitter to educate real-time (think of it as making text messaging public).
May be used for updates on public health events, news, resources, etc. Also, helps
people aggregate information during a crisis.
Cost: Free

Photo Sharing

For photo uploading and sharing, Yahoo’s Flickr and Google’s Picasa, are the most
popular. Both offer very good integration with other social media applications. Flickr
may be a bit more “social,” but Picasa provides more storage, a more straightforward
interface and a useful photo organizer and editor. It also integrates very well with other
Google applications.

Other useful imaging resources:

• Image (and motion) Capture http://www.jingproject.com/
• Crop/Resize/Change Format: http://www.drpic.com/

Picasa
Website: http://picasa.google.com
Description: Picasa is a software application for organizing and
editing digital photos. There is a downloadable application in
addition to Picasa Web Albums, both of which work together (you
can upload the web version from your local application).
Uses: Use Picasa to organize, store and display photos and use them on your other
social media sites.
Cost: Free

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Asynchronous Video Sharing

One of the most popular types of social media sites is video sharing. Even though social
networking sites like Facebook allow users to upload videos, the standalone services are
still immensely popular.

YouTube
Website: http://www.youtube.com/
Description: YouTube is the most popular and one of the most highly rated video-
sharing sites (see http://video-share-review.toptenreviews.com/). Other video sharing
sites include MetaCafe, Daily Motion, and Vimeo.
Uses: Good for complex stories and digital storytelling. Can provide public health
information in an easily consumable format. Reach a wide audience (people watch a
lot of YouTube).
Cost: Free

Follow these tips while creating videos:

1. Keep your videos short - not more than 3 to 4 minutes.
2. Keep it simple. Don’t worry about having the most expensive camera, the
most expensive microphone, the most expensive props, etc. Start small, and then
expand from there. You can even use your webcam to record directly to
YouTube
3. Place your web site URL at the bottom of your videos. Do not rely on
descriptions and tags.
4. If you want to use somebody else’s music, be sure to get the rights. Find the
appropriately Creative Commons licensed music or get permission.
5. You don’t have to edit your video, but if you decide you want to, then use
free video editing software (Windows Movie Maker for PC or Apple iMovie for
Mac)
6. Think of ways to make your videos go viral by creating something interesting
and compelling. Give people a reason to send your video links to their friends.
Many people don’t use YouTube’s search tool, but rely on the opinions of
others. If someone comes across your video and finds it interesting, helpful, or
funny, your chances of having them send it to someone they know increases.
Likewise, if you are creating useful content, you can expect others to “Favorite”
your videos, embed them in their blogs or social profiles, or share your creations
with their friends via instant messages or email.
7. Ask for feedback. Present a call to action in your video.

YouTube Video Promotion Strategies

1. Post video responses: Choose 10 -20 popular videos. Go to each of the
videos, scroll down to the response field, fill it out, and choose “Attach a video,”
then record a video response (you can either use a built in or external webcam).
Make sure that you submit only a related video. This will put your video under
1000’s of visitors who visit the most popular videos. This technique alone can

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bring you thousands of visitors to your site.

2. Put your video on your website, blog, Facebook page, etc.
3. Go to you’re My Account “Insight” page for data and statistics. This section
lists not only the demographics of those that viewed your video, but also how
they found your video, including any external links that sent them there. Now, go
to each of these websites and try to submit your videos too. Most of the sites
listed under this section allow people to upload videos. If not, you can send a
friendly email to the site admin requesting him to embed your video.
4. Tags: Find the most popular videos that belong to your niche and pick up the
tags used in this video. You can find the tags expanding the description under the
video. Now, use the same tags to your video. This strategy helps you get listed
under the “Related Videos” section of popular videos.

Animoto
Website: http://www.animoto.com/
Description: Animoto produces TV-quality music videos using your photos and video
clips in just minutes. Choose a song as the soundtrack to your video and Animoto will
analyze the music and time the images and video transitions to fit the music. You can
add Animoto videos to your MySpace & Facebook profiles, on your blog, e-mail them
to friends, put them up on YouTube or download them onto your computer.
Uses: Easily create professional quality videos without having to hire a professional or
learning advanced video editing capabilities. Then, use these either on YouTube or like
you would use YouTube.
Cost: Free for 30-second videos or $30/year for unlimited, full-length videos.

Synchronous Video Streams

Skype
Website: http://www.skype.com
Description: Skype is a software application that allows users to make voice and video
calls over the Internet. Calls to other users within the Skype service are free.
Uses:
• Audio/video conferencing
• Conference calls
• Instant Messaging
• Send files
• Desktop sharing
Cost: Free

U-Stream
Website: http://www.ustream.tv/
Description: Ustream is the leading live interactive broadcast platform that enables
anyone with an Internet connection and a camera to engage their audience in a
meaningful, immediate way. Unlike previous webcasting technology, Ustream uses a

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one-to-many model, which means that the user can broadcast to an audience of
unlimited size.

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Uses:
• Live/archived Webcasting
• Embed in website/blog
• Audience participation
Cost: Free

RSS Feeds

Definition: RSS is short for Really Simple Syndication. You may have seen invitations
on various websites to “subscribe via RSS.” RSS feeds are basically text files that are
submitted to feed directories, allowing subscribers to see the content shortly after it is
updated. You can create a feed using any number of “feed burners.” An aggregator is
used to read multiple feeds.

Google Feedburner
Website: http://feedburner.google.com;
Description: Google’s free RSS feedburner. It integrates well with Blogger.
Cost: Free

Google Reader
Website: http://www.google.com/reader
Description: Google’s free RSS aggregator.
Cost: Free

Podcasting

Podcasting is online audio content, typically saved in MP3 format that is delivered via an
RSS feed. Podcasting works the same as a standard RSS feed reader or news aggregator,
the only difference is that the feed you subscribe to contains an audio file in it. Podcasts
are typically saved in MP3 format. Podcasting is like “radio on demand.” Listeners can
determine the time and the place that they want to listen to your podcast.

Podcasting in 4 Steps
1. Create audio content using a free editor like Audacity
(http://audacity.sourceforge.net/)
2. Post the sound file (typically in MP3 format) to a web server using FTP
3. Add the audio file to an RSS feed using Google Feedburner
4. End-users can see your podcast in their newsfeeds, using an application like
Google Reader, iTunes, or Juice Receiver (http://juicereceiver.sourceforge.net/)

A good Podcast tutorial can be found at http://www.how-to-podcast-tutorial.com/

If you have a Mac, then GarageBand is an easy tool to make podcasts. See
http://www.apple.com/ilife/tutorials/#garageband-podcast for a tutorial.

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