1. #PrisonBreakNY and #SanBernardino: Dangers and Opportunities Presented by Social Media in a Crisis Michelle Marasch Ouellette, Assistant Professor of PR, Former Director of PR, SUNY Plattsburgh Bianca Batista, Senior, Public Relations, SUNY Plattsburgh

2. Trial by Fire I Needs: Technology. Social media policy. And support.

3. After the Drill Only two people work in our office. In a real emergency, we won’t be doing social media. We can’t. We don’t have the staff to do it. -Hospital PR official

4. Facts Pew Research Survey (2015) 63 percent of both Facebook and Twitter users say they get news from those sites. (Up more than 10 percent in two years.) “News Use on Facebook and Twitter Is on the Rise” Pew Research Center http://www.journalism.org/2015/07/ 14/the-evolving-role-of-news-on- twitter-and-facebook/pj_2015-07- 14_twitter-and-news_01/

5. https://newsroom.redcross.org/2010 /08/09/press-release-web-users- increasingly-rely-on-social-media-to- seek-help-in-a-disaster/ Red Cross Survey (2010) 69 percent expected first responders to monitor social media and initiate emergency responses.

6. Hypothesis Lack of social media coverage can be dangerous. But is it? Looked at #PrisonBreakNY, where two convicted murders escaped from Clinton Correctional Facility (a.k.a. Dannemora).

7. Typical Posts

8. Danger in Not Monitoring “Just listened to the scanner they said they are in a blue hyndia (sic) or however you spell it headed down 87.” Among the comments posted directly to the State Police Facebook page.

9. Danger in Not Monitoring “This was just posted minutes ago (Confirmed high speed chase on interstate in progress as of 5 min. ago. Heading back toward Plattsburgh” A further response Tip No. 1: Monitor.

10. Other Issues … Tip No. 2: Get rid of broken links.

11. Other Issues … Escape not mentioned until fourth line. Tip No. 3: Don’t bury the lead.

12. State Police Posts by the Numbers 33 tweets. 7 posts on June 10, day of Willsboro rumors, 0 addressing rumors. 2 posts on June 26, day Matt shot and day of Sweat rumors, 0 mentioning Matt's death or rumors. 0 hashtags used. 13 posts (nearly 40 percent) used NO key words.

13. More Posts Tip No. 4: Use hashtags key words. Don’t know which to use? Consult hashtagify.me. Tip No. 5: Clear up inaccuracies.

14. Compare This to #SanBernardino

15. Crowd Sourcing Your Efforts Catch critical messages. Gain suggestions on optimizing your efforts. Amplify your messages. Virtual Operations Support Teams Wouldn’t it be nice (and potentially life-saving) to have help in optimizing posts?

16. VOST A team of trusted, trained individuals, working together in an emergency to provide social media monitoring and, if requested, message amplification.

17. VOST Wildfires. Nepal earthquake. Umpqua Community College shooting. Paris attacks. Planned Parenthood shooting.

18. Important Notes: Base efforts on Incident Command System models. Use ICS forms and procedures. Follow lead of incident command’s public information officer or other appointed liaison. Do NOT post individually on a matter, unless directed by agency and, then, only amplify official messages. Deliver reports indicating concerns, trends and suggestions. Expedite critical information, giving it directly to agency in charge.

19. Contact Information: Michelle Ouellette michelle.ouellette@plattsburgh.edu Bianca Batista bbati001@plattsburgh.edu