9- Ashley Burningham- Dismissing Disaster Rumors

Reference:
Kutscher, B. (2012). A storm of rumors: social media can help counter false reports: experts. Modern Healthcare, 42(45), 7.

Theme:
Social media can help counter false reports.

Summary:
- Rumors flourished after Hurricane Sandy. (The New York Stock Exchange had flooded. A hospital in Brooklyn was burning. Utility company Consolidated Edison was cutting power to all of Manhattan.)
- There was a rumor about a fire in Coney Island Hospital.
- Some rumors were intentional and some came from misinterpreted dispatches.
- It is impossible to eliminate rumors, but you can dismiss them by talking about it.
- Social media can correct in almost real time.
- Many hospitals in Sandy's path used social media outlets to keep employees in the loop, share information about community resources, and even actively recruit blood donations and volunteers.
- Health and Hospitals Corp didn't address fire rumors, but tweeted things that would make the fire rumor invalid.
- People used a Twitter, Facebook, blogs, etc. to share information.
- More people followed because of the tragedy.
- Social media also used for crisis communication.

Application to lesson:
This weeks lesson was on the use of social media during disasters. This article discusses different agencies and how they used social media after Hurricane Sandy. Social media is beneficial because everyone can use it. Companies can use it to talk to employees, police can use it to provide situational updates, and fire can provide steps to take.

Application to career:
Many departments are beginning to use social media as a way of informing. It eliminates the need for a formal press conference, and it delivers a message to a large margin of people. Police departments are utilizing social media more than ever, and some have gone as far as eliminating formal conversation with the media and replacing it with social media information.