effective emergency management
Understanding and communicating risk are essential considerations for effective emergency management. Persistent advancements in technology have made it easy to apply social media platforms towards enhancing risk communication, hence improving emergency management effectiveness. This paper reflects on a social media campaign that will adopt diverse social media platforms to enhance the passage of information to N. Carolina residents concerning an impending hurricane Michael.
The audiences targeted by this social media campaign are residents of N. Carolina. Over the past few decades, variance and abnormalities in weather conditions in N. Carolina point to hurricanes’ probability, which may adversely affect the residents. Choosing appropriate social networks is vital when applying the strategy (Neidlinger & Neidlinger, 2020). The social media campaign mostly targets the youthful populations who form the largest community of users. Youths, having assessed the information, will share it with their parents, most of whom are not fanatic to social media platforms. As such, the audience can enhance the passage of information to other members of society. Other media platforms will be used to reach individuals in different age brackets.
Engaging community members through public awareness before a disaster occurs vital for successful emergency management (Crowe n.d). Planning is at the center of operational approaches. Strategic planning entails evaluating and assessing counter-response measures towards improving public awareness (World Health Organization, 2017). The information entailed in the media platforms will target to enhance such public awareness and influence behavioral transformations. The media platforms and communications include;
- Facebook –This media platform will target the youthful population. The message to integrate into Facebook walls is “A hurricane Michael has been forecasted to hit N. Carolina around December. Please share the information and plan for alternative dwelling arrangements.”
- Twitter –The platform target the youths. The tweet will be “Take precautionary measures and save lives and property from the impending Hurricane Michael that will impact N. Carolina.”
- Instagram –The post will target the youthful population. The message is, “Due to the unavoidable Hurricane Michael that will impact N. Carolina, you are all advised to move out of the city to save lives and property.”
- YouTube –The post will target individuals of all age brackets. The message will be in the form of a video showing the adverse effects of a hurricane and the need for precautionary measures.
- WhatsApp –The post will be created and shared through various groups. The message is, “Scientific research points to an impending hurricane to impact N. Carolina. Please share widely and take precautionary actions.”
Likes, retweets, sharing, and comments will be the significant metrics to access the platforms’ effectiveness and success in conveying the information. All the notifications will be sent within a time frame of one month.
Conclusively, the paper points to the utilization of social media campaigns to convey information about an impeding Hurricane in N. Carolina. The message will be covered within a month, and metrics such as response and retweets will be considered to assess success.
References
Crowe, A., (6). Ways to Utilize Social Media Before a Disaster Strikes. Emergency Management.
Neidlinger, J., & Neidlinger, J. (2020). The Best Way to Plan a Social Media Strategy in 5 Steps (Template). Retrieved 1 November 2020, from https://coschedule.com/blog/social-media-marketing-strategy-template/
World Health Organization. (, 2017). Communicating risk in public health emergencies: a WHO guideline for emergency risk communication (ERC) policy and practice. World Health Organization.