MCUrgent

A Shared Emergency Information Network

Getting the word out

withsocial media

Carol A. Spencer, Web Manager Building a Municipal Social PresenceMorris County NJ March 19, 2013

Morris County’s Shared, Multi-jurisdictional Emergency Information Network

What it is. How it works.

• An application that utilizes the power of social media to share official emergency information during an emergency with multi-jurisdictional impact.

• Led by Morris County’s Office of Emergency Management, MCUrgent allows all 39 towns to post to a single Twitter feed and Facebook page.

• Via a Twitter widget (a small piece of code your web person can grab and use), MCUrgent can be put on any web page.

• Individual town emergency notices can be posted to a town’s website, Twitter feed or Facebook page at the same time.

What is MCUrgent?

Using Twitter to Share Information

Messages can be posted from a desktop, laptop, phone

Message can be retrievedfrom a desktop, laptop, phone

Subscription-free access

Fast Follow text messages

AccessibleTwitter.com

Twitter users can:Retweet (share)Search by #hashtagShare with RSS

True social media use allows citizen contribution & sharing:

Twitterers can add #hashtags to their own postings

Twitterers can message MCUrgent

What Twitter IS:•A news service, a microblog

•Information-only notification methodology

•Technology dependent notification Server overload; “Fail whale” issues

•140 characters only Very brief announcements or links to more information

•Available on multiple media Computer, laptop, wireless, smartphone, sms, rss reader,

ipad, and more

•Available without registration

What Twitter is NOT:•A formal, guaranteed notification system

– No guarantee that notices will be posted

– No guarantee on uptime

– No guarantee that applications that pull Twitter feed will function

•The sole notification system – TV, radio, Twitter, Facebook, RSS feeds, SMS/text, reverse 9-1-1, email must all be used

•Substitute for an official emergency notification service

Our vision of MCUrgent

Morris Twp

Parsippany

Denville

Riverdale

Dover

Towns create a tweet

#hashtag post

#MCParsip RT 46 WB between New Rd and Rt 202/Parsippany Rd flooded. All lanes closed. 6:37 AM Mar 15th via Twitter

Our vision of MCUrgent

Towns create a tweet

#hashtag post

Twitter(MCUrgent)

Facebook(MCUrgent)

Morris Twp

Parsippany

Denville

Riverdale

Dover

Our vision of MCUrgent

Towns create a tweet

#hashtag post

Twitter(MCUrgent)

Facebook(MorrisCountyNJ)

Twitter(MorrisCountyNJ)

Facebook(Town page)

Twitter(Town feed)

Morris Twp

Parsippany

Denville

Riverdale

Dover

Facebook(MCUrgent)

Setting Up Hootsuite

Log into Hootsuite.com with any browser

Username is the generic email used to set up Hootsuite:

MC+TownName+NJ@gmail.com

Password is: change#me

Hootsuite Setup: Getting Started Tab

Hootsuite Setup: Locating social networks

Hootsuite Setup: Settings

Hootsuite Setup: Add info about you

Hootsuite Setup: Change password

Hootsuite Setup: Use https, uncheck items

Hootsuite Setup: pull in other information

Hootsuite Setup: RSS example

The RSS feed from CarolSpencerNJ on Twitter is “fed” to the MorrisTest account. Each time CarolSpencerNJ posts to Twitter, it also goes out on MorrisTest. Uses? Nat’l Weather Service, TransOptions, etc.

Hootsuite Setup: Social Networks viewable

Hootsuite Setup

Hootsuite Setup: Add your Town networks

Hootsuite Setup: Add your Town networks

Hootsuite Setup: Add your Town networks

Hootsuite Setup: Terminology

TabsSocial Networks

StreamsPosts

Hootsuite Setup: Adding Tabs

Hootsuite Setup: Adding Tabs

Hootsuite Setup: Adding Streams

Hootsuite Setup: Adding Streams

Hootsuite Setup: Adding Streams

Hootsuite Setup is done!

Now, we’re ready to post.

Post to: MorrisTest for Twitter

MyJurisdiction for Facebook

HootsuiteDashboard

Hootsuite Dashboard

Hootsuite Dashboard

Hootsuite Dashboard

Hootsuite Dashboard

Hootsuite Dashboard

Posting with Hootsuite

Hootsuite Dashboard: Let’s try it…

Click in the ‘Compose message…’ box

Enter a test message. Use abbreviations, hash tags.

Check off MorrisTest first. Note the number of characters remaining.

Check off MyJurisdiction. Note the number of characters remaining.

Click the calendar icon. Schedule for 5 minutes from now.

Note that the ‘Send Now’ button became ‘Schedule’.

Click ‘View date in Publisher’ to see what happens.

Click on the floppy drive icon to see that that does.

Save your tweet as a draft.

1. Post to test accounts (MorrisTest, MyJurisdiction)

Hootsuite Dashboard: Let’s try it…

To see your draft posts, click the down arrow next to the floppy drive icon

If you see the post you want to send, click on it.

Check the social networks to which you want this to go.

If you were to check off one of the MCUrgent social networks,you would get a confirming slider to prevent accidental postingto this account.

Click the calendar icon. Schedule for 5 minutes from now.

Note that the ‘Send Now’ button became ‘Schedule’.

Click Schedule.

If you still have the ‘Publisher’ calendar open, see your tweet.

2. Post to test accounts (MorrisTest, MyJurisdiction)

Before PostingDouble check before you post

Information is accurate

Information is authorized for public release

Post is 140 characters or less

Spelling is accurate

Link is accurateCopy it into a new browser window to be sure it goes where you want

Date and time are correct if scheduling into the future

Selected social networks are the correct ones

Once it’s out there, you can delete it but anyone who has read it,has read it.

To delete in Hootsuite, hover over the tweet in the ‘sent tweets’ stream and click the x.

A few more things…Searching, deleting, filtering

To search Twitter, enter the search criteria in the search box and click the magnifying glass.

To create a stream of a particular search term, click “+Add Stream”. Choose a search term or use logic as per examples

To create a stream of keywords, enter the terms. Tweets using any of the keywords will be returned.

To use hashtags so your comments will be included in a stream using that term, precede your term with a #. Example: #MCLibrary;#Jan25; #gov20; #superbowl, #poltwt

To be sure your tweet ends up in someone’s mentions stream, use @ before their Twitter handle.

HootsuiteTools

Hootsuite Tools

Click any Twitter handle to get information about who they are, their website, number of followers / following and more….

Hootsuite Tools

Hootsuite Tools

Hootsuite Tools: Scheduled Tweets

Hootsuite Tools:Analytics

Hootsuite Tools: Interactions

Hootsuite Tools: Interactions

Hootsuite Tools: Applications

MCUrgent: What’s next?

• Practice: Use MorrisTest for Twitter and MyJurisdiction for Facebook. (You can only see these on Hootsuite.com when you’re logged in. These are not live accounts.)

• Post: Post to MCUrgent only in a multi-jurisdictional declared emergency OR when whatever has

happened impacts multiple towns. For example: Route 46 closed in rush hour

• Remember: • MCUrgent on Twitter goes to phones as text messages. Post judiciously.• The public considers weather & major

highway closures as emergencies.• If you post that it’s closed, post when it’s

open.

• Go Mobile: Come to the advanced class when we schedule it to learn how to post from an iPad, tablet or

smartphone.

Summary of MCUrgent

• What: Emergency notifications fromparticipating towns: MCUrgent

• Web: MorrisCountyNJ.gov Twitter widgetTown info on town website if they want

• Social: Twitter.com/MCUrgentMCUrgent.org / .net / .com / .infoFacebook.com (Morris County Office of Emergency Management)

• SMS: text follow MCUrgent to 40404

Contact Information

Carol A. SpencerDigital & Social Media Manager, Morris County

Website : MorrisCountyNJ.gov

Email : CSpencer@co.morris.nj.us or CarolSpencerNJ@gmail.com

Facebook : Facebook.com/MorrisCountyNJ

Facebook : Facebook.com/MCUrgent

Twitter : Twitter.com/MorrisCountyNJ

Twitter : Twitter.com/MCUrgent (or MCUrgent.com)

MCUrgent

A Shared Emergency Information Network

Getting the word out

withsocial media

Carol A. Spencer, Web Manager Building a Municipal Social PresenceMorris County NJ March 19, 2013