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SUMMARY USES OF SOCIAL MEDIA TO INFORM OPERATIONAL RESPONSE AND RECOVERY DURING AN AIRPORT EMERGENCY The power and reach of social media (SM) are unprecedented in scope and speed. The SM landscape is developing and evolving rapidly. It is difficult to measure SMâs return on investment for todayâs organizations. However, whether the exact value is known, it is imperative that an organization evaluate the many opportunities that present themselves in the area of social media and adapt those that make sense for the organization. Until recently, people had to wait for a credible news source to validate what was happening in the world around them, but now they can turn to citizen journalists and their accounts, accurate or not, of what is unfolding. Oftentimes, news outlets now get to an event after ordinary citizens have used social media to document it and the outlets interview the citi- zens who already filmed, uploaded, and reported on the event. Many organizations, including airports and airlines, began using SM for branding and for customer serviceârelated inquiries as customers made comments via social media plat- forms about their experiences and complaints. Subsequently, some organizations began to use social media to enhance emergency management (SMEM), initially as an outgoing tool to disseminate notifications, warnings, and public information associated with emergen- cies. SM platforms offer many advantages for such uses. SMEM requires gleaning from the stream of posts and messages passing through social media information and intelligence that can be applied to situational awareness and resource allocation decisions by emergency managers. Such uses raise the stakes for timeliness of data extraction and results validation, especially if the information is going to be used for resource allocation and other decision making. The timeliness aspect means that SMEM must involve real-time or near real-time extraction processes such as data scraping, social listening, and social monitoring. This synthesis uses a case example approach to examine how six organizations have developed and used SMEM systems, how this relates if at all to their overall use of SM, and the lessons that airports can learn. The six case examples are three airports (Edmonton International Airport, MinneapolisâSaint Paul International Airport, and Vancouver Inter- national Airport), one airline (Southwest Airlines), and two non-aviation organizations (the New York City Office of Emergency Management and the University of North Dakota Police Department). In addition, two cases are briefly described that use trained volunteers to stand up social listening functions when an emergency operations center is activated (the American Red Cross Digital Disaster Operations Center and the Florida State University Virtual Operations Support Team). The following conclusions may be drawn from the case examples and the literature review: ⢠Having a clear vision of what the airport wishes to achieve through SMEM is the essential first step; everything else should follow. ⢠An airport with a social media presence and in-house experts can be ready and valu- able to support emergency responders in any event. ⢠Growing social media and SMEM programs internally seems most beneficial. This process works best when an airport takes it on instead of outsourcing. The actual
2 employees working for that entity can give it the time, knowledge, and care it needs to grow. â Most organizations utilize on-the-job training, as the SM landscape evolves quickly. â Rotating workers avoids SM burnout and empowers the employees so there is no appearance of being scripted or nonresponsiveâtimely is the name of the game. This applies when the program seeks to be interactive (i.e., have conversations) and even when the program uses pre-scripted responses in some situations. ⢠A designated SMEM champion can show the value of SM programs to the C-level in the organization. This requires determining what metrics to use to show the value of the SM presence and win more resources as needed. â Participation from other departments across the organization is key; this enables the SM presence to be valued by all and allows for resources to be shared. â Engaged employees (âevangelismâ as the Los Angeles Fire Department and Southwest Airlines term it) will enhance overall employee morale. Seeing their organizationâs efforts in responding to or leading an issue will be a source of pride. ⢠Organizing and staffing oneâs SMEM on the basis of desired communication outcomes is far superior to starting from a technological or outside cultural standpoint. Those with experience in customer service and marketing can use social media analytical tools to provide decision-quality information and intelligence. â A thoughtful SM presence will build creditability for the organization. â Superior emergency management as enabled by SMEM will be viewed as part of an airportâs overall superior reputation and customer service. â An effective SM and SMEM platform can serve the broader community (e.g., the Edmonton International Airport case example). ⢠Embedding the SMEM program into the airportâs overall crisis communications stra- tegic plan and SM program is productive. ⢠The public information officer and emergency managers need to develop a relationship that promotes information sharing and joint planning, training, drilling, and exercises. The findings of this synthesis suggest that further research is needed on the following topics: ⢠A guidebook for the creation and maintenance of SMEM systems for airports of all types and sizes ⢠Model pre-scripted announcements, posts, and so forth for airports to use in SMEM notifications, warnings, and outgoing information ⢠Evaluation of current validation and verification systems for SM-derived information including automated systems ⢠Update of ACRP Report 94 (Integrating Web-Based Emergency Management Collaboration Software into Airport OperationsâA Primer) and ACRP current research project 16-04-03 (Guidebook for Airport Emergency Operations Centers) to account for display and use of SMEM inputs in emergency operations centers.