HARNESSING THE POWER OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN THE FIRE SERVICE

Martha Murphy, Office of the Fire MarshalOAFC Conference April 30, 2011

What is Social Media?

What’s The Point?

The Point is …

Connecting

Sharing

Participating

What do these mean?

Facebook & LinkedIn

Manage events Posts

Photos Links News, articles

Professional profile

Resume Work connections

Online rolodex Career builder Networking

Facebook LinkedIn

FriendsFansLikes

Twitter Messaging service known as

microblogging …Communicate in 140 characters or less

Promotions, events Most importantly

Start a conversation … what are you doing? Create a voice – be an expert Gain followers

Blogs

User-centered website Prove yourself expert in your

field Post video, podcasts, photos Feed to twitter Subscribe via RSS Find Blogs – Google Blog Search

Blogger and WordPress

YouTube & Flickr

Post user-generated videos

Mainstream media

Public relations Enhances Blog,

Twitter feed

Profile Friends Groups

(firefighter) Stream to website Share photos

Event Photos

YouTube – Videos Flickr - Photos

RSS & Podcasts

Really Simple Syndication

No need to check for site updates

Subscribe to many sites

Syndicate to Blog, Twitter, Facebook

Digital media files – audio or video

Subscribe to podcasts via RSS

Listen/view on computer or MP3 player

RSS Feeds Podcasts

Tools Used by Fire Service

Facebook Fire departments, Fire associations,

Government Community outreach

Emergency preparedness News, events, fundraisers Recruitment

NFPA, FEMA, Brampton, Burlington, Toronto, Niagara Falls, Belleville

Examples of Facebook

NFPA

Brampton Fire

Twitter Short posts 140 characters

Fire Department – emergency response, fire incidents, public safety messages, promo events

Citizens – emergency, disaster, fire, community Searchtwitter.com – search on hashtags Re-tweeting Tweetdeck Twitterfeed Twitpic

Examples of Twitter

YouTube Post fire department content – PSA’s,

safety messages, recruiting, events View videos by media, citizens on a local

incident Search channels – Barrie Fire, NFPA,

FEMA Search “your town” + fire .. Citizens may

have taken video Add to official website, blog, Facebook

Examples of YouTube

Barrie Fire Channel

FEMA Channel

RSS “Subscribing” to content via RSS

Fire Dept. can add RSS link to official website, Blog, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube …

Podcasts – NFPA, FEMA, FireChief, Firehouse Syndicated via RSS Content “pushed to you”

Podcast

Sites to Subscribe via RSS

Share Link

http://www.getprepared.gc.ca/

Share Link

Layers of Presence & Accessibility

Belleville Fire & Emergency Services Website

Facebook Logo

Layers of Presence & Accessibility

Layers of Presence & Accessibility

Considerations with these tools …

Evaluate your message

What are you trying to accomplish?

What message are you conveying?

Who will maintain information?

How will you measure success?

Choose tool to match message!

Keys to ConsiderKeys Points …

Guidelines, Permissions, Policies

Promotion

Risks / Barriers of Use

Leap of Faith … Just Try It !

Social Media Assignment1. SearchTwitter

http://search.twitter.com/ use #tags – #tsunami ,#leafs , #yourcity (#Petrolia)

2. Facebook – set up an account www.facebook.com … be a friend to Brampton, Burlington, Niagara, Belleville Fire, NFPA, FEMA …follow their posts …comment back!

3. YouTube – search for fires in your community – what are citizens posting? Check out channels – CTV, Barrie Fire, NFPA

Resources

Add to Your Social Media Network:

Barrie Fire

Belleville Fire

Brampton Fire

Burlington Fire

Niagara Falls

Toronto Fire

Fire Chat – OFM Social Media links http://www.ofm.gov.on.ca/en/Library/fire%20news/Social%20Media.asp

Social Media & Fire Service Part I-III Ontario Fire Service Messenger by Martha Murphy

Sticks & Stones by Larry Weber Brampton Fire - Phillip Shuster

www.brampton.ca Charlotte Fire Dept –Mark Basnight

http://markbasnightcfdpio.blogspot.com/

Thank You … Questions?

martha.murphy@wst.gov.on.ca