Traditional media sources are a one-way form of communication where people are only consumers of content, whereas social media transforms people into both consumers and producers of content. These sources can provide quicker and more immediate real-time information of an event so that emergency response personnel have greater situational awareness and can make rapid decisions during crises. To utilize social media, pre-event preparation is necessary. This course will provide the information (and hands-on experience) necessary to start and execute the participants’ social media disaster plans.

This four-hour performance-level course provides participants with information on the strengths, challenges, and uses of social media sources and provides the skills and knowledge to integrate social media into their current communication plans for disaster response and recovery.

The target audience for this course is:

• Emergency Management;
• Government Administrative;
• Information Technology;
• Public Safety Communications;
• Private Sector/Corporate Security and Safety Professionals; and
• Citizen/Community Volunteer.

N/A

1. Participants will be required to bring their own laptop or wi-fi enabled device to the training session for the hands-on exercises.
2. Participants must have Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram accounts and be able to post test messages on these accounts. If you do not have accounts prior to the class start, you may not be able to participate in class activities.
3. This course conducts a Pre-test, Post-test, and Course Evaluation online.