Province Trying To Deal With Social Media

Social media has become the new reality for all of us and it’s been a difficult adjustment for the government and organizations in terms of dealing with emergency situations.
Allison Stuart is the Chief of Emergency Management Ontario and she opened the Northwest Response Forum in Dryden yesterday.
Stuart says there’s a real disconnect between getting the message out in a timely manner and ensuring the proper information is getting out.
Stuart adds the government must ensure it’s consulting with its emergency partners and giving the public the information they need to know.
She says information needs to be out right away to avoid conflicting reports and stresses groups must have trust in their staff.
Stuart says government and emergency organizations can no longer ignore social media.
Meantime, the provincial government has made some changes to improve communication in emergency situations.
Stuart notes they’ve modified the Ontario Emergency Public Notice system.
The website allows people to subscribe to e-mail and text messaging in the event of an emergency.
Stuart says the updates will soon be more localized.
She adds they’ve hired more people to monitor and update social media.