Red Tape: Attitudes and issues related to use of social media by U.S. county-level emergency managers

Linda Plotnick, Starr Roxanne Hiltz, Jane A. Kushma, Andrea Tapia

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

56 Scopus citations

Abstract

Social media are ubiquitous in modern society. Among their uses are to provide real-time information during crisis. One might expect that emergency management agencies in the U.S. make use of social media extensively to disseminate and collect crisis information as that is where the information flows most freely and quickly; yet, these agencies are not fully exploiting the capabilities of social media. A survey of 241 U.S. emergency managers at the county level shows that only about half of these agencies use social media in any way as of 2014. Most do not have any formal policies to guide their use. Of those that do have formal policies, about one quarter actually forbid the use of social media. This study describes the barriers that impede use of social media by these emergency managers, and the ways in which they are currently used, and recommends steps to improve this use.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationISCRAM 2015 Conference Proceedings - 12th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management
EditorsLeysia A. Palen, Tina Comes, Monika Buscher, Amanda Lee Hughes, Leysia A. Palen
PublisherInformation Systems for Crisis Response and Management, ISCRAM
ISBN (Electronic)9788271177881
StatePublished - 2015
Event12th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management, ISCRAM 2015 - Kristiansand, Norway
Duration: May 24 2015May 27 2015

Publication series

NameISCRAM 2015 Conference Proceedings - 12th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management
Volume2015-January

Other

Other12th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management, ISCRAM 2015
Country/TerritoryNorway
CityKristiansand
Period5/24/155/27/15

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Information Systems
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering
  • Information Systems and Management
  • Computer Networks and Communications

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