BACKGROUND
Social media (SM) is an important tool for organizations, communities, and airports for promotion and dissemination of information. To be effective, users must be able to rely on the SM account as a trusted source, and may even expect two-way communication.
Using SM as part of managing an emergency response event can be an effective way of exchanging critical and accurate information with the affected community and other interested parties. Historically, emergency management has been focused on responding to their immediate tasks at hand, and less concerned with utilizing SM. Concurrently, depending on the event, it’s also important that sensitive information is not inadvertently shared. Collaboration between emergency responders and airport communication staff is crucial, and coordination should occur prior to any emergency event.
Airport users, while they may be SM users too, are likely to be transient, and therefore may not be following the airport’s specific SM platforms. Some platforms are apt to be used by specific demographics and may require the airport to use different platforms to reach their users.
Airport staff may not know about the different types of SM tools (such as the different platforms, monitoring, etc.), general analytical data and how it can be used to inform their SM communications plan, or how to develop a SM program for emergency management and crisis communications.
OBJECTIVE
The objective of this research was to develop a guidebook that will help airports develop a social media (SM) program for emergency management and crisis communication.
