The past year has been an incredible year for ht euse of social media in emergency management. Major disasters forced the leveraging of hte phenomenal potential of social media systems to enhance communications, utilize volunteers, and facilitate efficient response and recovery tools. For example, "Pictures and Documents found after the April 27, 2011 Tornadoes" Facebook page redefined how those impacted by disasters could help neighbors restore their memories and possessions. Likewise, the benefit and impact of citizen journalism was solidified after the Vancouver Riots. Additionally, the social media & emergency management (#SMEM) initiative on Twitter passed its first "birthday" while still engaging thousands of practitioners throughout the world.
But where are we going for 2012? I'd like to propose the following broad predictions for where the growing (yet still somehow unlikely) partnership of social media and emergency management are going.
1) CONTINUED AVOIDANCE: Many emergency management and public safety organizations will continue to ignore or avoid social media as a powerful tool.
2) PARADIGM SHIFT: A major domestic disaster will impact a community that has fully integrated social media into preparedness and response, which will be the final nail in the coffin of excuses as to why social media is important (see point #1).
3) ID OF GOOD PRACTICES: Unaffiliated groups such as www.sm4em.org will continue to aggregate and validate good practices faster than formal government or large affiliate organizations can.
4) CROWDSOURCING: An emergency management organization will embrace crowdsourcing disaster information BEFORE a disaster happens.
5) EXERCISE INTEGRATION: Leading practitioners will identify methods to correctly and efficiently integrate social media into HSEEP exercises
6) ACTIVE STORYTELLING: A public safety agency will begin to use social media tools to shape the telling of an emergency event the second it happens.
Given the exponential growth of the impact of social media on emergency management, I can't imagine that 2012 won't be just as revolutionary. So get your banners, berets and megaphone....are you ready for 2012?
