Social Media Matters, Not Just Because I Say So

(or alternatively titled, Jennifer Rants to No One In Particular, Part 1)

I had the opportunity last week to attend the Partners in Preparedness Conference in Tacoma. The conference is two days of non-stop emergency planning, preparedness, public education, technology sessions plus the opportunity to meet other emergency management-types from around the Northwest. This is the second time I’ve been able to attend the conference and I learned a great deal. What I found most interesting was how much more emphasis there was this year on social media and technology.

Believe it or not, Cowlitz County is somewhat ahead of the curve in employing social media and new technologies in emergency management. Many counties, especially smaller ones are slow to warm up to Twitter and blogging as a legitimate form of disseminating public information. A lot of that has to do, not with the county emergency management’s reluctance to dip their toe into the waters of social media, but with the county powers-that-be fearing litigation, bad press, or other perceived ills of these new-fangled technologies.

Our humble office didn’t encounter much friction when beginning our social media adventures, probably because we are a rag-tag motley crew of outsiders and we shoot first and ask questions later, all maverick-y like. Yeah, you know how Cowlitz DEM rolls.

Anyway, we don’t have a huge reader base for this blog or a huge following on Twitter, but when it counts, I know the public will be there. Whenever I give a presentation on preparedness or emergency management, people roll their eyes at Twitter and scoff at reading a blog (yes, I see you in the back) but you know what? I don’t care. I don’t care because Facebook, Twitter, blogs, all of it, are valid. They are becoming more valid with every hour that passes. Did you see the live-tweets of the raid on Osama Bin Laden’s compound? Yes, it’s happening people.

Here’s my take. Technology doesn’t move backward. Ever. There has never been an Industrial De-evolution. Sure, the same technologies don’t stay around forever (VCR’s, bag phones, cassettes, MySpace) but they also don’t go away, they get improved upon (Blu-Ray, Cell phones, MP3s, Facebook). Don’t discount Twitter or blogs because you don’t get them, you don’t want them, you hate technology or you think you’re “too old for such nonsense.”

Guess what, I'm not crazy about technology either, I’m too cheap for a Smart Phone, have no use for Twitter outside of emergency management purposes and I still don’t fully comprehend Facebook. But, I know enough to know that these are important. Especially if in the course of my day, I need to get really important information out to a lot of people in a short amount of time. With Twitter and the blog, I can do that. Now, I know we don’t have a Facebook page, but I promise we’re working on it. We messed up the first one and are working on making a better second attempt. But, see we’re learning. We’re all learning together. It’s nothing to be afraid of.

At the conference, I had an interesting and somewhat infuriating conversation with an emergency manager from a small county about social media. He stated that he was 65years old and too old to learn about Twitter and blogs and who-z-whatzits and all that nonsense. He was happy to send out press releases to the local newspaper and TV and call it a day. That is what he has always done and that’s what he would always do. I tried to give my two-cents , but it fell on deaf, obstinate ears. Being obstinate just for the sake of being obstinate is an attitude I cannot abide by.

I liken it to the Aztecs sacrificing someone before daybreak each morning to ensure that the sun would rise that day. How many people had to die needlessly before they realized the sun rose anyway, no matter what they did? Not that anyone is dying by not employing social media in their arsenal of information dissemination, but the moral is sometimes just because it’s your tradition doesn’t mean it’s the best thing. Think outside of what you normally do and one day it might make a difference. Or spend an hour with a teenager and see how they obtain and process information. I can bet you it’s not from a press release.

Oh, and if the Aztecs would have had a Twitter account on that first day they realized the not-killing people vs. sunrise thing, I bet it would have gone a little something like this. "Totes slept thru alarm, 4got human sacrifice this a.m. @tezcatlipoca is gunna b so mad LOL." Then later, "Hmm, sun up what duz it all mean? lulz 4 real." Yes, for what it's worth, I think Twitter is killing the English language.

-End Rant-