To Post or Not to Post

Is social media harming our notification systems

As I sit down to share some thoughts; social media reminded me of an incident that occurred about a year ago. A neighboring department had an apparatus that was involved in a roll-over accident responding to an incident. With-in minutes, before the assisting apparatus could arrive on scene, the message of the accident had been spread all over social media. Posts such as “thoughts and prayers”, “Hoping everyone is safe”, and “Prayers to our Firefighters”. To many these posts may seem harmless.

Lets change rolls for a second. Put yourself in the rolls of the family, friends, and co-workers of the personnel on board the apparatus. Knowing that your spouse is on duty at the firehouse, would you want to find out they have been involved in an accident via Facebook? Probably not.

Why do we feel the need to immediately share, post, and pass along information over social media outlets? Why is there such a need to be the first to report these incidents? Does this outlet of information make people entitled to know what is going on in everyone’s life?

The limited amount of time an agency has to gather information and make notification to the families has been become scarily limited. With modern technology and social media outlets reporting in “real-time” even the real media has to play catch-up on breaking news stories.

The social media downfall doesn’t stop at that; what about people using it as an outlet to vocally slam and or criticize anything and everything? Do you not realize everything you say online stays online? We’ve all seen the posts; the vague comment, the public slam, the “I’m supposed to be funny”, and last but not least the “Karma” comments. Remember all of these comments, whether you post them or you comment on someone else’s post, become public information. In the accident mentioned above there was a comment listed under a post that said “They were still drunk from the New Years party”. While this was meant to be a form of comic relief for someone, it could be extremely damaging for the reputation of an organization.

Also when trolling thought the trenches of social media news, make sure you are getting your information from a reputable source. Do you know who is supplying the information to that site and how accurate is the information. Anyone can start a Facebook page using any name; my district has a Facebook page that no one knows who started it. We are fortunate because there has been no negative or incorrect information posted to date, but we have no control over the information being posted on the site.

Don’t get the wrong message, there are good uses for social media outlets. I frequently use them for pictures, videos, and articles for training and posts on upcoming trainings and classes. Many organizations have social media sites to update their citizens and to spread information about what the organization is doing for the community. In the recent flooding in the Midwest social media was use to educate the public on river levels and crests, emergency shelters, road closures, and safety messages about flooding. Again the important part of all this…make sure you are getting your information from a reputable source.

Does your organization have a social media policy? Sometimes we are quick to throw words and paper at a problem in the firehouse, hoping it will provide a solution to corral the problem. However a good policy on social media can provide guidance and education to the members of the organization. Policies can include guidelines and boundaries for what a member can and can’t post while on duty; or off duty in response to an on duty situation. Policies can also identify the use of pictures, videos, and logos that could make a post appear as if the post came from the organization.

As you engage in social media activities remember that your posts, comments, and activities should reflect the the fire service. Even off duty your actions are viewed as the opinion of a Firefighter and may effect your citizens perception of your organization.