“Should We Call 9-1-1 or Just Tweet About the Fire?” That’s the tongue-in-cheek title of a post from last week over at TwitterHandbook.com (Warren Whitlock and Deb Micek‘s site, though the blog doesn’t say which one of them wrote the post).
They were flagging a story on CNN.com about how some police departments are starting to use Twitter for getting timely information out to their communities – everything from Amber alerts to road closings, suspect descriptions to evacuation updates.
It’s a burgeoning nationwide trend, and here in New Hampshire, we find ourselves on the leading edge of the charge. Zak Stambor just posted a great feature piece on Ragan.com (the corporate communications powerhouse) about Martin Murray, senior corporate news representative for Public Service of New Hampshire. (That’s Martin at right, although I’m not sure why the image keeps coming out blurry on upload. Hmmm.)
PSNH is a big power company here in NH, and during last December’s ice storm (which left some towns without power for a week), Murray and his colleague Matt Chagnon tweeted continuously about the utility’s efforts to restore power across the state. The info got out to customers who’d found shelter with friends and family who had power; emergency personnel out in the field; and local media reporting on the extensive damage caused by the storm.
(Martin is a featured speaker later this week at the 2nd NH Social Media Breakfast – can’t wait to hear more about it from the horse’s mouth!)
I’m starting to collect stories like this one from all across the country for an upcoming workshop – if you know of any good ones, please share them in the comments! In the meantime, here are the top three things police, fire, hospitals, rescue organizations, homeland security, transportation, and public utilities can take away from the CNN.com and Ragan.com stories:
1. Public agencies are starting to see increasing value in social media communication tools like Twitter, and see traditional media communication tools like press releases decreasing in value.
2. In a crisis, people are hungry for news – and power outages won’t stop people from getting the news they want, when they want it. What’s more, they can become part of the news AND the dialogue around it using their cell phones to access social media outlets and the mobile web.
3. Even if you don’t quite “get it” yet (a position PSNH’s Murray was in when he first set up PSNH’s Twitter account in early 2008), just take the leap and start. Set up an account – it literally takes only a minute or two to start. Add your Twitter handle to your email signature. Use Twitter’s email searching function to help you find people you already know on Twitter. Add your Twitter contact info on every piece of communication you’re already sending out to your audience, community, and constituents.
And start tweeting today.
