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This website was created by me, Marlee McCall, to simulate an exploratory process of the relationship between the fire service and social media, for the viewer, similar to the one I carried out in discovering the relationship between the fire service and social media. Why Social Media Firemen and other in the fire service understand that it is an important topic if it is addressed at the Fire Department Instructors Conference (FDIC), "the world's largest fire training-based conference and exhibition dedicated to delivering the finest training available to the men and women of the fire service" according to their facebook page. Rhett Fleitz, the author of The Fire Critic, taught a class at the FDIC titled “Social Media: The Fire Service’s Next Big Innovation”. Dan Knight, Penflex employee and author of the article "Social media for volunteer fire departments" explains that "Social media is social because you're having a conversation with them, not just bombarding them with a message they can choose to ignore. " He expounds declaring that social media's effectiveness comes from the face that the audience a fire department reaches on social media is very selective because whomever that views it has already proclaimed their interest by liking or following the page. Therefore, spending time and expending effort on your departments social media page will result in a good portion of your online community members following. This allows you to relay to all of them at once the calls the department responds to, the lives they save, and the events they host. It is also important to remember that all of those who follow you are connected to others and they can easily share the news with them, which again, quickly pulls more support. Connecting via social media can be an advantage for fire departments as such an integral (whether the community realizes it or not) part of the community because social media users have a tendency to be community oriented, meaning that they are most likely to care enough to respond to fire department messages and volunteer their time. This fact was manifested by the Pew Research Center in their Internet and American Life project. Their discoveries included that • 80% of Americans are online • 82% of social media users 85% of Twitter users, are involved with a volunteer or non-profit group in some way. Interviews Interview with paid and volunteer firefighter, Zachery Ledford What type of social media does your department use? Facebook and twitter, as well as a website. How do you currently see the fire department using social media? They let the community know what the fire department’s doing; they use it to get respect and support from the community. Who updates the social media pages? What’s their title?

A volunteer fireman, a public information officer Do the other firemen show interest in the social media? How? Do they make suggestions? Yes, mostly through discussion about pictures that are posted and by showing up to the training opportunities that are posted online. Does the department have interactions with a lawyer about social media usage for on-duty firemen? Off-duty firemen? No, No What kind of response do you see out of those who view the page? We get positive feedback. What does the department include in their updates? Calls, upcoming events (100th year celebration etc.), severe weather alerts, training photos, apparatus photos, What else could the department do to improve their image? To encourage support? To recruit firemen? Include fire safety tips, (smoke detector reminders etc.) They didn’t post when they got new volunteers. Interview with Maurice Vassar, fire captain for the city of Cincinnati What type of social media does your department use? Facebook and twitter. How do you currently see the fire department using social media? Keeping in contact with the public, safety updates, fire department functions and programs Has anyone attended social media lectures like the ones at FDIC or other similar conventions? No, no one has. Who updates the social media pages? What’s their title? I do [fire captain] and there are two other administrators, an IT person, like a webmaster, and a public relations, information officer. Do the other firemen show interest in the social media? How? Do they make suggestions? Yes, some post and comment. Some post pictures. Are these on-duty or off-duty pictures?

On-duty, around the firehouse, some post off-duty pictures that they’ve taken at the scene while on duty. Has this been an issue or problem? No, no, not at all. Does the department have interactions with a lawyer about social media usage for on-duty firemen? Off-duty firemen? No, not really. What kind of response do you see out of those who view the page? All positive, sometimes with a message of appreciation, sometimes a question What else could the department do to improve their image? To encourage support? To recruit firemen? More outreach, more contact, everything we can do. We haven’t recruited [using social media], but we’re looking to, probably will in the future. Interview with Chief Meadows, District I Chief of Emergency Management (City of Asheville, North Carolina) What is your ISO rating? I think 2. Has anyone attended social media lectures like the ones at FDIC or other similar conventions? Oh yeah, we do have PIOs [Public Information Officers] that have gone to several instructor classes. What type of social media does your department use? Twitter and facebook How do you currently see the fire department using social media? It’s a great outlet, what we post, people repost. We let the public know what’s going on, we post media alerts and press releases when necessary. Who updates the social media pages? What’s their title? Kelly Webb, PIO Do the other firemen show interest in the social media? How? Do they make suggestions? They go and see what’s posted and definitely become “friends” on facebook, we have several firemen with twitter accounts. Has the department had any social media problems, in terms of what gets released?

No problems, the city of Asheville has a policy and we make sure they know what’s acceptable and what wouldn’t be. We don’t want to give the city or the department a black eye. Does the department have interactions with an attorney about social media usage for on-duty firemen? Off-duty firemen? It come through the city, we have an attorney that way. What does the department post on social media? We hope it’s informative, we post blood drives or if we have a fireman who’s ill, we’ll get the word out about a fundraiser that way. What else could the department do to improve their image? To encourage support? To recruit firemen? We want community relationships; we strive to meet the needs of the community. We try to hire minorities and females to broaden community relations.

How-To For those departments struggling to gain followers: "Social media is a road, not a destination, it takes daily effort, perseverance, and willingness to communicate without a net." -Dan Knight Departments must remember that not every message displayed through social media sites can be extensively reviewed, which is scary for some departments that do not typically release anything to the press until it has been thoroughly addressed and scrutinized. This is also meant to be a warning to leave the responsibility of updating in someone's hands that in well trained and trusted. In order to maintain followers a department must post interesting material on a daily basis. Access this presentation to gain a greater sense of the relationship between social media and the fire service. Dan Knight's suggests in his article, "Social media models fire departments can use" on FireRescue1 to "Try to ensure that the information you are providing is of interest and importance to everyone in the community and not just strictly department related news." He goes on to give a few examples of what a fire department should post: • how many fires you've put out this year • where to view the new budget • what your local ISO rating is • even just random community news Knight claim that "It will do you no good to simply tweet about department business and in-house developments". I must dispute this last point because all of his suggestions are absolutely department business and any development for a community's fire department will likely draw more

supporters. One goal for a fire department is to have community support and for many volunteer departments in "in-house developments" are due to local support (which includes THEIR money) and just as any American wants to see where their tax dollars are being spent, a local wants to see what their tax dollars and otherwise invested funds are doing. Rhett Fleitz agrees in his description of his social media classes saying "Making themselves accessible to their audience (taxpayers, legislators, members, and visitors) can be a huge part of a positive public relations campaign". Also I think a fire department's social media page is not only to inform the community it serves but to spark interest and draw perspective fireman. Therefore, if the department gets a new truck, post it proudly. If the department saves a cat, post it. Social Media Policy Social media policies are necessary in a fire department because firemen's use of social media on an individual level is potentially harmful to the department as a whole if they mix what they do on-duty with what they do off-duty. Its a problem if: • firemen post, or otherwise share, graphic images on their personal pages • firemen release victim information The media are professional internet searches and are guaranteed to find and broadcast this information. In consulting Glenn Bischoff's article "Face it-social media can be a headache for police and fire departments" it can be concluded that basically firemen need a code to live their social media life by that needs to include the following to avoid some severe consequences: • All images taken by on-duty personnel are the property of the department. • Only use department issued cameras at the scene (and preferably leave that to a designated photographer). • Images should be archived in a secure location • be aware of the first amendment to the constitution Edward Robson, an attorney who represents volunteer fire and ambulance companies and author of “Social media policies: What you need to know" explains that the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution pointedly constrains the "manner in which the government may interfere with an individual's freedom of expression". The government is not permitted to put any restriction on speech unless it's "content neutral". Fire departments may encounter unanticipated political turmoil if they do not present a sound social media policy. The policies are intended to avoid breeches of privacy of those the fire department serves and the members of the fire department. Robson claims that these policies regulate the sharing of sensitive or personal information if it’s not your own. Fire departments should avoid generalized policies and avoid restrictions on specific viewpoints. In addition policy writers should caution themselves to the term “social media” because it encompasses so much, but rather create multiple policies. They should

also explicitly explain inappropriate use and why it is inappropriate to its members. Robson suggest a department claim that the policy has been implemented to “prevent speech that interferes with a department's efficient operation”. Finally a department should consider consultation with an attorney before punishing anyone for violating policy terms.

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