Barriers to Use of Social Media by Emergency Managers
-
Linda Plotnick
and
Starr Roxanne Hiltz
Abstract
Social media (SM) are socio-technical systems that have the potential to provide real-time information during crises and thus to help protect lives and property. Yet, US emergency management (EM) agencies do not extensively use them. This mixed-methods study describes the ways SM is used by county-level US emergency managers, barriers to effective SM use, and recommendations to improve use. Exploratory interviews were conducted with US public sector emergency managers to elicit attitudes about SM. This was followed by a survey of over 200 US county level emergency managers. Results show that only about half of agencies use SM at all. About one quarter of agencies with formal policies actually forbid the use of SM. For both disseminating (sending out) and collecting information lack of sufficient staff is the most important barrier. However, lack of guidance/policy documents is the second highest rated barrier to dissemination via SM. Lack of skills and of the training that could improve these skills is also important. For collecting data, trustworthiness and information overload issues are the second and third most important barriers, which points to the need for appropriate software support to deal with these system-related issues. There are few differences associated with agency characteristics. By understanding important barriers, technologists can better meet the needs of emergency managers when designing SM technologies.
Acknowledgments
Contributions to this research were made by Dr. Jane Kushma, Mr. Scott Manning, Mr. Michael Ryan, and Ms. Judith Weshinsky-Price.
Portions of this paper were adapted, updated and expanded from three conference papers that reported initial results of the project (Hiltz and Plotnick 2013; Hiltz et al. 2014; Plotnick et al. 2015).
Appendix A: Excerpts from the Interview Guide
We (are conducting a study of how government agencies involved in emergency management currently use social media and other sources of information, and how their use of social media might change in the future. We are focusing on large-scale events, from both natural and man-made causes, that are usually referred to as “disasters” or “Crises,” – ones that are too big to be handled solely by local first responders.…
A. (Background info about respondent and organization)
B. Decisions and Information Sources
Please think of a specific type of sudden onset disaster with which you have recent experience, such as a tornado or hurricane, and let’s review your information needs and sources currently: We would like to address, specifically, the warning/preparedness phase and/or the response phase. That is, at this time, we are not including the planning and mitigation phases of the disaster.
Which disaster have you chosen and when did it occur?
What was the major source of the information required for this decision to be made?
How fast was information from (this source) delivered?
Did you have a procedure in place to assess the quality and accuracy of the information?
If so, how was quality and accuracy determined?
What information was missing from this source, that you needed?
What other major sources of information did you use for this incident?…
Did your organization’s use of social media change following this disaster? If so, how?
Now please think about the whole set of actions and decisions that you typically make in all stages of disaster management.. I’m going to start asking some questions about your organization’s use of social media, currently and then how your organization might use it in the future.
Is social media data (e.g. from Twitter or Facebook or similar systems) already influencing the key decisions?
Formally through policies and procedures for information gathering and channels?
Informally through use by individuals who then share what they find?
C. Current use of social media
Does your organization formally or informally make use of Twitter, or any Twitter-like services, or Facebook or similar systems, to disseminate data? If so, please explain.
Does your organization formally or informally make use of Twitter, or any Twitter-like services, or Facebook or similar services, to gather data/learn about emergency situations? If so, please explain.
What are the main barriers to your organization’s current use of Twitter services and data?
D. Future
What about your organization, its policies and its practices will have to change in order for social media data to become more useful to decision-making?
What about the social media data itself will have to change in order for it to become more useful to decision-making?...
Do you have any other observations or thoughts about the future use of social media by your organization to manage disasters?
Is there anything else you would like to tell us about your organization’s use and/or perceptions of use of Social Media?
Appendix B: Survey Items
| Item | Scale |
| State | Drop down menu |
| The county my agency serves has a population of approximately___ residents | Below 50,000; 50,00–99,999; 100,000–499,999; 500,000–1 million; more than 1 million, do not know |
| My agency is | Stand alone, nested in another agency, do not know, other |
| Is your county government consolidated with a city? | Yes/no/do not know |
| I would characterize the county my agency serves as | Mostly rural, mostly urban, about equal mix |
| On average, the number of paid and volunteer staff in my EM agency is | 1–9; 10–30; 31–50; 51–100; over 100; do not know |
| During 2013 and/or 2014 has your agency responded to a major diaster? | Yes/no |
| (Optional) Please name the disaster and briefly describe if there were any major issues or successes with the use of social media | Text box |
| Please indicate the extent to which each of the following are barriers to social media use for sending out information from your agency | |
| Lack of hardware | 1:not a barrier to 7:a large barrier + 8:do not know |
| Lack of software | |
| Legal or privacy issues | |
| Lack of staff (quantity) | |
| Lack of staff (skills) | |
| Lack of experience with social media | |
| Lack of training opportunities | |
| Lack of support from senior management | |
| Lack of guidance/policy documents | |
| Lack of compatibility with my agency’s information systems | |
| Social media limitations | |
| Other (please specify) | |
| Please indicate the extent to which each of the following are barriers to social media use for collecting information for your agency | |
| Lack of hardware | 1:not a barrier to 7:a large barrier + 8:do not know |
| Lack of software | |
| Legal or privacy issues | |
| Lack of staff (quantity) | |
| Lack of staff (skills) | |
| Lack of experience with social media | |
| Lack of training | |
| Lack of support from senior management | |
| Lack of compatibility with my agency’s information systems | |
| Trustworthiness of public generated content | |
| Social media limitations | |
| Information overload | |
| Other (please specify) | |
| In my personal use and/or professional life, I have ___ used social media | 1:never to 7:frequently |
| In general, I find social media ___ to use | 1:very easy to 7:very challenging |
| Interacting with social media platforms requires ___ of my mental effort | 1:very little to 7: a great deal |
| Assuming that I have, or could have, access to social media and permission to use it in my job, I ___ intend to use it | 1:definitely do not to 7: definitely do |
| (Optional) Please describe a positive experience you have had using social media | |
| (Optional) Please describe a negative experience you have had using social media | |
| Does staff in your agency use social media for job related activities even if it is not officially sanctioned? | Yes/no/do not know |
| With regard to the sending out of information using social media, which answer best fits your agency’s policies and procedures that allow use of social media? | No formal or informal, informal, formal |
| With regard to the gathering of information using social media, which answer best fits your agency’s policies and procedures that allow use of social media? | No formal or informal, informal, formal |
| (Optional) Please comment on your agency’s policies and procedures regarding use of social media | |
| Do any of your agency’s policies prevent the use of social media? | Yes/no |
| If you answered above that your agency has formal policies and/or procedures ….please check “yes”….(used for logic) | Yes/no |
| Please check all areas addressed by your social media policies and/or procedures | |
| Access for sending out information from your agency | |
| Appropriate use of social media | |
| Content sent out by your agency | |
| Security | |
| Legal issues | |
| Training of agency employees regarding use of social media | |
| Establish citizen conduct guidelines for their use of your social media platforms | |
| Guidelines for enabling collaboration between ad hoc or nonstandard technology partners and government entities | |
| Guidelines for using nonstandard resources and/or solutions in the case of an emergency | |
| From whom data can be gathered | |
| Designated central agency contact(s) for social media oversight and permission to use | |
| Centralized record of access passwords | |
| Administrator access to add or remove registered users | |
| Other (please specify) | |
| I think that our social media policies are ___ for our every day needs | 1:very inadequate to 7:very adequate |
| I think that our social media policies are ___ for our needs during a disaster | 1:very inadequate to 7:very adequate |
| My agency has a person or group dedicated to the management and use of social media | Yes/no |
| Our agency policies prescribe/allow for using social media to gather information from (select all that apply) | |
| The public | |
| Other government agencies | |
| NGOs with whom we have an established relationship | |
| NGOs with whom we do not have an established relationship | |
| Citizens with whom we have a prior relationship | |
| Citizens with whom we do not have a prior relationship | |
| Other (please specify) | |
| Does your agency have a process for assessing the quality of information gathered via social media in the case of a disaster? | Yes/no/not applicable |
| Our proces is ____ | Automated, manual, both automated and manual, do not know |
| Do you have access to technology support and information regarding social media? | Yes/no |
| What goals are you trying to accomplish using social media? Please choose all that apply | |
| Representing the agency on social media | |
| Informing before, during, and after emergency situations | |
| Individualized citizen/customer service during emergency situations | |
| Creating poublic awareness between events for protection, preparation, etc | |
| Increasing trust in responsiveness of government | |
| Listening to community and intervene when necessary | |
| Increasing interactions with the public | |
| Increasing our agency’s transparency and accountability | |
| Enabling internal collaboration | |
| Increasing our efficiency and effectiveness | |
| Other (please specify) | |
| To what degree do you feel you are accomplishing your social media goals effectively? | 1:not at all to 7:to a great extent; 8:we do not have social media goals;9:do not know |
| Please indicate if/how your agency is currently using the following social media platforms (select all that apply) for each: not using; to gather information; to send out information; do not know | |
| Google+ | |
| YouTube | |
| Flickr | |
| Pintarest | |
| Nixle | |
| Blog (any) | |
| Other | Other (please specify) |
| My agency has been using some form of social media for | Less than 1 year; 1–2 years; 3–5 years; more than 5 years; do not know |
| Social media platforms are ___ useful for my agency | 1:not at all to 7:very |
| Social media are used by my agency for the following activities (1:not used; 2:not often to 8:very often; 9:do not know) | |
| Risk communication | |
| Requesting incident information from the public | |
| Public relations | |
| Intelligence gathering | |
| Engage with mainstream media | |
| Monitoring specific events | |
| Update incident commander/operations | |
| Increase situational awareness | |
| Identify people directly affected by an incident | |
| Identify potential eyewitnesses | |
| Provide specific information to the public | |
| Counter rumors/misinformation | |
| Sharing information with other organizations | |
| Sharing information/press releases with/on behalf of partners | |
| Other (please specify) | |
| My highest completed educational degree is | High school, associates, bachelors, graduate |
| Other (please specify) | |
| I have Certified Emergency Manager (CEM) certification | Yes/no |
| I have been working, in some capacity, for my current EM agency for | Less than 1 year, 1–2 years, 3–5 years, 6–10 years, more than 10 years |
| My age is | Under 30, 30–49, 50 or older, decline to answer |
| (Optional) Please tell us one thing about your organization, your organization’s policies or technology that you think would be most important to change to make social media useful for gathering data from the public during an emergency | |
| (Optional) Please enter any other feedback you would like to give us regarding either this survey or the research project | |
| (Optional) – email for follow-up studies and/or publications | |
| (Optional) would you like to receive a copy of any publications that result from this study? | Yes/no |
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©2016 by De Gruyter
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Opinion
- Comprehensive Homeland Security: Developing a Domestic Protection Force for the United States
- Living with Terrorism: Unimaginable Nightmare or Prospective Reality
- Research Articles
- Barriers to Use of Social Media by Emergency Managers
- Assessment of Awareness and Preparedness of Pennsylvania Veterinarians to Recognize and Respond to Foreign Animal Diseases
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Opinion
- Comprehensive Homeland Security: Developing a Domestic Protection Force for the United States
- Living with Terrorism: Unimaginable Nightmare or Prospective Reality
- Research Articles
- Barriers to Use of Social Media by Emergency Managers
- Assessment of Awareness and Preparedness of Pennsylvania Veterinarians to Recognize and Respond to Foreign Animal Diseases
