Social media and communicating with the public

A recent announcement that Twitter will be introducing an "Alert System" reminded me of an item on the board's agenda last month. Back on August 26, the selectmen had a policy discussion which included talk of social media as a potential communications medium.

Some folks watching the meeting apparently interpreted the discussion to mean that the town was considering abandoning its use of the reverse 911 system in favor of Twitter.

Not so.

First of all, the town as an organization hasn't even decided whether or not it will use Twitter, Facebook or any other social media.

More importantly, if the town does decide to establish social media accounts, they wouldn't replace the current methods for informing the public of an emergency situation (e.g., reverse 911, the movable electronic billboards, web site updates, etc). The idea behind establishing such accounts would be to suppliment these other methods.

As cellular phones become less and less expensive and cellular service becomes more reliable, more and more people have dropped their traditional telephone service - a.k.a., the "land line." This makes reverse 911 calls less and less effective for getting information out in a hurry.

On the other hand, the increased use of "smart" phones - cell phones such as the Apple iPhone and the Android phones from Samsung, Motorola and others - means that it is becoming easier and easier to reach people using social media.

For example, the most recent use of the reverse 911 system was back on September 1 when an elderly man with Alzheimer's went missing. I don't have Twitter, but friends in Falmouth and Mashpee had multiple posts about this all over Facebook - which is where I first learned about it. A reverse 911 call went out, but we were out of our house at the time.

The biggest benefit of social media is that it is opt-in. The town wouldn't need to keep track of emails or phone numbers. Anyone - whether they live in Falmouth or not - could simply follow the Twitter feed or Facebook posts to keep abreast of breaking information such as boil water orders or missing persons.

Because this information is distributed via the Internet, you don't even need a smart phone to stay informed. A home computer and Internet connection will work just as well. Even when the power goes out in stormy weather, cable and/or phone are often still working.

Finally, while reverse 911 is useful for urgent issues, using it for everyday announcements like meeting cancellations or road closures is both problematic and expensive. Wouldn't you like to know that a road is closed before you get there? A Twitter "tweet" or Facebook post would let residents and visitors know this, helping them find other routes before they get stuck in traffic.

That is what the social media discussion is really all about - informing the public.