Emergency Communications Planning for Airports (2016)

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25 chapter six ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA Social media have become a go-to destination for information. In airport emergencies, both internal and external constituencies use social media as their only source, or as one of their primary sources, of information. This includes airport senior managers, first responders, emergency managers, other airport employees, stakeholders at the airport such as airlines and tenants, local government, the media, and the public. Increasingly, people not only seek out information from social media after they become aware of an incident but pre-program their social media applications to alert them when certain types of events happen. For example, Twitter has become a major news-breaking platform. This was emphatically demonstrated by its use by LAX as the airport’s official source of information during the November 2013 active shooter incident (LAWA n.d.; Bernstein and Bernstein 2013; Burns 2013; Francheschi–Bicchierai 2013; Gattiker 2013; McKenzie 2013; Mitchell and Takahara 2013; Oliver 2013; Wellmeier 2013; Wilson 2013). Technologies that enable people to interact and share information through social media—blogs, chat rooms, discussion forums, wikis, YouTube Channels, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Periscope (the video version of Twitter), etc.—were nonexistent or not widely available 15 years ago. Social media can be accessed by computers, tablets, smart and cellular phones, and mobile phone text messaging (Lindsay 2011). Social media continue to evolve very quickly, and the public gener- ally adopts them faster than do institutions. The fast evolution of social media suggests that any air- port comprehensive emergency/crisis communications plans that seek to manage social media use be “nimble, adaptive, and flexible in order to sustain the plan’s effectiveness in an increasingly networked and fragmented communications and cultural environment” (J. Greenberg, personal communications, Nov. 17 and Dec. 17, 2015). Airports are keenly aware of the value of social media as a marketing and customer service tool. Airports have incorporated social media platforms or channels into their marketing and communica- tion strategies because they provide a very effective way to reach out to the local community (ACRP Synthesis 65—Elliot et al. 2015). With this social media evolution, airport emergency managers are now incorporating the use of social media into their emergency communications. Incorporating social media into an airport’s CCP can provide relevant and timely processes for identifying, assessing, miti- gating, resolving, and preventing negative impacts resulting from emergencies and mission-critical system failures. Social media can be used to push emergency notification as well as monitor and track the mood and requirements of the impacted public. In many cases, social media provide emergency managers with their first eyes on the scene of an accident or emergency situation. Often moments after an event occurs, people at the scene acting as “citizen journalists” will be streaming video and posting text messages from the emergency site as was the case with the Asiana crash at SFO (ICF 2013). During the response phase of the emergency, information from social media can provide emergency managers and responders with the environ- mental and situational awareness needed to provide the appropriate levels of response. During the recovery phase, social media can be used to manage the reactions and needs of the impacted passengers, families, and the public. There are a number of approaches to analyzing the information coming from social media, includ- ing commercially available tools. The primary advantage of such tools is their ability to provide near real-time analytical results. However, no-cost or low-cost local manual systems can suffice at smaller airports and for less complex incidents at large airports (S. Cusson, personal communication, Nov. 17, 2015).

26 ACRP Synthesis 56: Understanding the Value of Social Media at Airports for Customer Engage- ment (Perry et al. 2014), also looked at extending use of social media beyond marketing to emergency management: The successful use of social media during recent unfortunate events such as the LAX active shooter, the Asiana Flight 214 incident at San Francisco International Airport (SFO), the Boston Marathon bombing, and Hurricane Sandy, have all shown the importance of social media, in particular Twitter, when providing information real time during a crisis and has raised public expectations regarding the sharing of real-time information. Social media play an important role in providing real-time information about airport operations, including posting alerts about airport closures resulting from inclement weather, network outages, airline computer system failures, air traffic control system delays, and ground traffic delays (pp. 133–134). ACRP Synthesis 56 suggested further research to identify crisis management strategies and policies for social media. Tools to facilitate the use of social media in emergency management are being developed. One example is the social media widget for emergency response proposed by Banerjee et al. (2013). Their widget scans Twitter for certain emergency-related topics and sorts them by web-based mapping info, then delivers the results to the emergency managers (pp. 292–295). Emergency responders are continually seeking ways to quickly monitor and leverage social media information to assist in the response and recovery phases of an emergency. “Beacon” technology is a means of using an airport’s WiFi and social media to connect with passengers at the airport or approach- ing it. New beacon technologies are being developed and deployed that could allow airports to own, operate, or subscribe to systems that will push emergency notifications to social media devices within predefined zones providing time-critical information to the public, for example, shelter in place or evacuation orders. ATL is already using beacon technologies for such purposes (R. McCranie, personal communication, Oct. 15, 2015). Beacon technologies usually require people to opt in to receive the mes- sages. Beacon and similar notification systems are examples of “leveraging commercial infrastructure and technology as much as possible” (Peha 2013, p. 40). Internal stakeholder notifications through social media are also an area of focus for emergency managers. Social media can be an especially valuable tool for smaller airports with limited funds and available resources. Twitter and Facebook sites can be configured to share notifications among pre- defined groups of people. Innovative airports have established accounts on these sites specifically for the purpose of sharing critical information, and have encouraged their key stakeholders to configure their personal apps to provide pop-up alerts when any new airport post is made. This essentially provides a low- to zero-cost notification network for the airports. However, social media use is a double-edged sword. They are a powerful resource for monitor- ing situations and disseminating information, but can also create an organizational crisis. An airport should be prepared to protect itself from threats presented by the new media (Siah et al. 2010). A deluge of social media “hits” can overload an airport’s IT system, freezing the system because of inadequate bandwidth. That was a concern regarding the airport’s website in the LAX active shooter incident (LAWA 2014). In general, the same social media best practices applied to marketing and customer service issues can also be applied to emergency plan communications through social media. Some of these practices might address the following issues: • Awareness: Identifying potential social media trending as it develops; • Timeliness: Responding quickly to social media concerns; • Proper use of resources: Employing factual responses; utilizing subject matter experts as needed; • Appropriate tone: Showing empathy by using appropriate level of (in)formality in response; • A consistent channel: Responding to/resolving the crisis in the originating social media channel (SFO 2013). ACRP Synthesis 56 details additional details on airport social media best practices.

27 When asked what social media they used most frequently in emergencies (Question 29), the air- ports surveyed responded that Facebook and Twitter were the most used. This reflects the dominance of Facebook and Twitter with the general public, but differs somewhat from social media use by teenagers and adults under 30 (Duggan et al. 2015). Instagram and Periscope were quickly expand- ing in the fall of 2015, as was shown by their predominance in use by “citizen journalists” during the Paris terrorist attacks (M. Grady, personal communication, Nov. 17, 2015). Instagram was specifically listed as an option in Question 29, but Periscope was not. This illustrates how fast both the technology of social media and the sociocultural aspect of their adoption by different segments of the public can affect which social media airports should consider. One major caveat regarding the use of data-driven social media platforms in emergencies is that the major delivery systems—cellular phone service and the Internet—may be overwhelmed to the point of becoming slow, erratic, or even totally unavailable. This may result from sudden surges in posts or physical damage to the cell towers. In general, both the public and emergency managers access social media by means of cell phones. Social media can be an airport’s ally in an emergency or the source of significant problems. It is important that airport emergency/crisis communications plans direct how the airport will use social media and who is in charge of using it, both outgoing and incoming. Social media engages the public through conversation during a crisis, not merely pushing information outwards. Initial impressions from social media can be tested through analytics and metrics.