Social media is a new technology that not only allows for another channel of broadcasting messages to the public, but also allows for two way communication between emergency managers and major stakeholder groups. Increasingly the public is turning to social media technologies to obtain up to date information during emergencies and to share data about the disaster in the form of geo data, text, pictures, video, or a combination of these media. Social media also can allow for greater situational awareness for emergency responders. While social media allows for many opportunities to engage in an effective conversation with stakeholders, it also holds many challenges for emergency managers.

The purpose of this course is to provide the participants with best practices including tools, techniques and a basic roadmap to build capabilities in the use of social media technologies in their own emergency management organizations (State, local, Tribal) in order to further their emergency response missions.

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Explain why social media is important for emergency management
• Describe the major functions and features of common social media sites currently used in emergency management
• Describe the opportunities and challenges of using social media applications during the 5 phases of emergency management
• Describe better practices for using social media applications during the 5 phases of emergency management
• Describe the process for building the capabilities and to sustain the use of social media in an emergency management organization (State, local, tribal, territorial)