By: Sara Estes Cohen

Sara Estes Cohen — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 20:15:36 +0000

I’ve been working on collaborating social media and crisis communications for a few years now – took a while to get those who don’t use social media to understand the concept, etc…

I think the next move is to build communities through social networking, leverage already existing communities, more effectively (and through authentic channels) so that these networks can be used during a crisis…

Agencies/organizations need to realize that they need to cultivate these networks PRIOR to an event in order to leverage their power during and after. The stronger a “virtual community,” the faster the recovery.

During Katrina, I found friends, met new people, got two jobs, and relocated to Los Angeles all through Myspace. Think what I could have done had I had access to greater networks (at the time)?

By: Andre Blackman

Andre Blackman — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 20:47:44 +0000

I’ve been interested in crisis communications for a while and I agree – there is definitely alot of buzz going on lately! Especially with things like Gov 2.0 gaining momentum. I think it’s great that social media is opening up more doors for crisis communications and looking forward to seeing it develop further. I’m also interested in communicating during a crisis for those who may not have constant web access or understand how to interpret things going on with social media. Maybe more basic ways that technology can help is what I’m looking at.

Thanks for the links as usual, Alex!

Comments on: Crisis Communications is Hot, Hot, Hot

By: Sara Estes Cohen

By: Andre Blackman