It’s been a week since the Boston Marathon bombings, and the analysis of the event, its media coverage and emergency response and communications efforts are well underway. Much talk over the weekend centered around major media outlets and their rush to be the first to get information and push it out, whether or not the facts had been confirmed.
One early matter of confusion the day of the event resulted from initial reports and tweets, including by Reuters, that there had been a related third explosion at the JFK Library. The Reuters tweet of a third explosion was retweeted more than 8,000 times, while different information was being reported by both the Boston Police Department and the JFK Library (click here to read more):
Another error and walk-back resulted on Wednesday, April 17th when CNN, the AP and Fox News ran with information and reported that an arrest had been made in the event investigation (click here to read more). The Boston Police Department offered the correct information, however, via Twitter:
Which makes the continued case for government and related agencies and organizations utilizing real-time social media monitoring and response:
- To monitor for mentions of the event and their organization by others.
- To monitor and correct any misinformation by major news outlets or others sharing/tweeting information.
- To provide real-time information and updates to the public and the media that is following real-time Twitter or Facebook feeds, hashtags or keywords.
- To monitor and respond to the public reaching out for assistance or providing information when cell phones or other communication channels don’t work.
Many agencies and organizations are doing this already and beginning to do it well, but all should get involved proactively instead of waiting for the next big event or crisis, because unfortunately, it will come.
