Friday, September 9, 2011

FEMA's social media resources

For the skeptics, a press release.


SOCIAL MEDIA CAN HELP KEEP YOU AND YOUR FAMILY SAFE
ALBANY, N.Y. - Emergency managers can say a lot in 140 characters.
New York State Office of Emergency Management and Federal Emergency Management Agency use social media tools Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. 
You can receive the latest disaster recovery updates and information on how to prepare for emergencies from the following social media sites:
·         Twitter - www.twitter.com/NYSEMO
o   Twitter.com/fema
o   http://mobile.twitter.com/fema (available on mobile devices)
o   FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate tweets at twitter.com/CraigatFEMA
o   The Ready Campaign, which helps people prepare for emergencies. It links to www.ready.gov and tweets at twitter.com/Readydotgov.
o   FEMA Region 2, which includes Albany, tweets at twitter.com/femaregion2
·         Facebook
o   Facebook.com/fema
o   http://m.facebook.com/fema (accessible on mobile devices). Users must "like" a specific agency's Facebook to receive updates.
·         YouTube
·         Google Books
o   FEMA uses Google Books to share some of its publications in an easy to access, free online format.
·         Mobile Website - m.fema.gov
o   The mobile website allows for preparedness and disaster-related information to be delivered directly to a smartphone. Users can also apply for disaster assistance.

FEMA Blog - blog.fema.gov. The blog provides a place for agency senior leaders to discuss the current topics of the day. It also encourages open conversation and comments by users.
For official information, go to www.dhses.ny.gov/oem and www.fema.gov for disaster and preparedness information. At the FEMA site, you can find these online tools:
o   RRS/Date Feeds -www.fema.gov/help/rss.shtm
o   RSS/data feeds provide automatically updated information as soon as it's available.
·         Widgets- www.fema.gov/help/widgets. Widgets provide information through web-based graphical interfaces. The widgets can be placed on personal and business websites, allowing visitors to those sites to access updates FEMA information.
·         Multimedia Library - www.fema.gov/medialibrary. The Multimedia Library contains all of FEMA's videos, photos, and audio files.
·         Email Updates - www.fema.gov/help/getemail.shtm. Email Updates provide information delivered directly to your inbox. FEMA never sends unsolicited emails and the public can choose which updates they would like to receive.
FEMA does not endorse any non-government websites, companies or applications.
FEMA's mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.