Category: Uncategorized

Jeremiah Hall Palmer
Prof. Myron
COLL300
Research Proposal
June 16, 2012

For several years, there has been a growing interest in the roles that social media can play during crises. In late 2010, FEMA began to pay attention to discussions surrounding the use of social media in emergency management. Since that time, more attention has been given to the concept on state and local levels. For this project, I would like to weigh in on the discussion and express the importance of social media for emergency management and disaster response.

Description:

Specifically, I would like to introduce examples of how social media outlets can benefit communications during response and recovery phases of any given event; making note of instances where the practice has worked successfully. Once I have established the importance of social media presence, I would like to tackle the issues related to maintaining a “social” presence, and allowing for the information to be passed along in a “viral” manner to ensure that the public is notified. Essentially, the statement that I wish to make is: “Social media—with it’s ease of use and maintenance, viral potential, and the connections made with the public at large—is an important tool to harness for the emergency manager.”

Plan:

My entire research will involve seeking out information from FEMA as well as varying professionals and pundits in emergency management and related fields. I suspect that there may be some personal experience included in my writing as well, as I maintain the local agency’s website and social media accounts.

In an effort to keep the project more “professional” with “scholarly” sources of information, I may have to expand my research into the realms of “brand-marketing”. The use of this seemingly unrelated topic runs parallel to the topic that I wish to discuss, and should aid in providing supportive argument. While this may seem a tad ridiculous, the use of marketing as an example is being used by emergency management professionals—and this University—to educate those in emergency management of the necessity.

I have briefly conducted some research into the topic and have found many potential sources of information. In addition to the sources listed below, I will seeking source material from the FEMA blog, as well as FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate’s Twitter stream. This is my (current) working bibliography:

Primary Sources

Aten, Jamie D.; Leavell, Kari; Gonzalez, Rose; Luke, Theresa; Defee, Justin; et al. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy3. 1 (Mar 2011): 16-20.
McGuire, Michael; Schneck, Debra. Public Administration Review, suppl. Special Issue on the Future of Public Administration in 202070 (Dec 2010): S201-S207.
Merchant, Raina M; Elmer, Stacy; Lurie, Nicole. The New England Journal of Medicine 365. 4 (Jul 28, 2011): 289-291.
Pechta, L. E., Brandenburg, D. C., & Seeger, M. W. (2010). Understanding the Dynamics of Emergency Communication: Propositions for a Four-Channel Model. Journal Of Homeland Security & Emergency Management, 7(1), 1-18.

Secondary Sources

Coleman, Timothy A; Knupp, Kevin R; Spann, James; Elliott, J B; Peters, Brian E. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society92. 5 (May 2011): 567-582.
FEMA To Use Social Media For Emergency Response. (January 19, 2011 Wednesday 4:00 PM GMT ). TECHWEB, Retrieved from
O’Keefe, Ed. (June 4, 2009 Thursday ). FEMA Encourages Public Participation. The Washington Post, Retrieved from
Winerman, Lea. Nature457. 7228 (Jan 22, 2009): 376-378.
With response to tornadoes, FEMA begins to rebuild its reputation. (May 6, 2011 Friday). The Christian Science Monitor, Retrieved from

Schedule:

I have not set a specific schedule for the completion of this project. I am, however aware of the dates listed for the class assignments surrounding the project.

Approval Request:

Dr. Myron, I hope that you may find this proposed topic to be one interesting and worthy enough of attention. Of course, any comments and criticisms are welcome.

The following is a response to a required forum posting…

First, the simple break-down:

Problem: Communication prior to, during, and after a disaster

Solution: Savvy use of social media by emergency management

Thesis Statement: Social media—with it’s ease of use, maintenance, viral potential and connections to the public at large—is an important tool to harness for the emergency manager.

Now, the long-winded explanation of what I’m thinking:

For several years there has been a growing interest in the roles that social media can play during crises. We’ve seen people post messages on varying services alerting their friends and the public to disaster and distress; federal, state, and local agencies are now taking advantage of these services as well. My thesis will [hopefully] focus on this topic, with the main idea being the aforementioned thesis statement.

With the use of social media outlets agencies have the ability to reach additional audiences and also overlap pre-existing ones. Once upon a time we could rely upon the idea that the majority of the citizens had either a radio or television; today, this isn’t necessarily the case. Radio is still widely available, but too many people are not tuning in–with the advent of iPods and satellite radio, many aren’t listening to local broadcasts. It may still be a safe assumption that the average household has two televisions, but are these TVs watching satellite or terrestrial broadcasts? Too many people are “cutting the cord” and losing their connection to local media–these cord-cutters aren’t limited to mid- and upper-classes either. (Mine is a perfect example of a lower-class family which primarily watches IPTV–of course, I am a computer geek.)

The growing numbers of people making use of other technologies for media consumption need attention. Emergency managers should adjust to this trend by making available methods for the public to connect for receiving emergency information.

Additionally, making use of social media allows for an easy two-way connection to the public. An agency can easily collect a large amount of data from the public–by posting that an event has taken place in a certain area, the agency has not only informed the public but opened a discussion where community members can ask for and give additional details in near real-time.

…problematic? It can be… Most of the problems that can be associated with social media–with an exception to bad PR–are issues that we already deal with. Technical issues are present and have been present with many of our solutions for years. EAS broadcasts, tornado warning sirens–these systems are supposed to be reliable, functional and fast; frequently they fail in some way, usually related to an error in communications protocol–a bad radio transmitter, power, etc. Social media’s big failure can happen in the same way–broken telephone, cable, ISDN line or lack of power.

The only problem that social media could invite is one that can be prevented if agencies become involved–bad PR. By establishing a presence, however, any negative relations can be at a minimum as the door is opened for friendly discussion and resolution…

[…does this make sense? ]

These are the issues that I really want to express, along with using examples of more recent events where social media has been used either intentionally or accidentally and how the use has aided in disaster response and recovery.

To wrap it all up, I want to say something like—“It’s frickin’ easy, we all need to do it!”—but, of course, in a more educated and professional manner.

This topic may end up proving to be a large one to tackle, with much time being spent on sorting out opinion from facts; making use of the research tools available in our virtual library should aid in making the chore easier.

After a bit of digging, I found to have a nice amount of luck using ProQuest and LexisNexis—the latter coming as a surprise. I believe I will also be making use of the iSeek engine for some supplemental “non-scholarly” information; I found the manner in which that service provides categories—similar to the way LexisNexis allows for the refinement of searches—to be quite helpful.

This post recieved the following comment:

Johnathon Austin:
Jeremiah,

Technology is always changing and evolving, and a big result of that is social media. The fingerprints of social media are everywhere, because everyone, and every business uses it. It allows for instant transmission of news and information. I do agree with you that this will be a large topic to tackle because of how far it reaches, but I do believe that with some good research you will be able to do a good job. I was really surprised also at the amount of energy I was able to get from LexisNexis. I think it just might be my favorite database to use. Good luck!

The following is another homework related writing:

Hello, everyone, my name is Jeremiah, and I am lousy at introductions; even more so these days—we’ll get to that shortly. I’m an early thirty-something from Cynthiana, Kentucky that’s fairly reserved and relatively shy and quiet—my writing is about the only time that I speak at any length; most likely because I can do so without fear of embarrassment. My feelings and emotions are usually a great influence on my performance, especially with regard to writing—this will be very evident if we hit a subject or work that I feel passionate about.

I am married, but separated; I have no idea as to whether there will be any chance of reconciliation. I used to be able to write at great length about my family, which made introductions much easier; these days, however…

I had pledged my life to a wonderful woman just a few months my senior; we had been together for roughly nine years, married for eight, and had known each other since high school—I had first noticed her in my freshman year of high school when she stepped onto my bus for the first time (I believe we had even shared a seat on a couple of occasions). In 2003 our paths crossed once more with us finally declaring our love for another; in 2004 we were blessed with our first child, with two additional blessings coming later in 2006 and 2009. Our son—the first born—now resides with me in my parents’ finished attic; the girls are at home with her.

I still care for the kids when needs arise, primarily because the man that now shares her bed has no desire to be around children. I have no ill feelings about caring for the kids, other than it causes issue with attempting to locate employment, plus it is quite difficult to provide care when I am limited to the graces of my parents and am not allowed access to the girls’ primary home by order of the other man—except for alternating Saturdays and when he is left completely unaware.

I had attempted to take this course once before, but dropped off. It is difficult to keep motivated and focus on literature when my inspiration has left me, and keeps toying with my emotions—I would go further to explain this cat and mouse game she is playing with my heart, but now is not the time; I wouldn’t be surprised if I do leak a bit more on the topic in the writings that will come.

If you are curious to discover more about me you can search the Internet for “kg4vma” and find quite a bit…

Best of luck to everyone here, and don’t be surprised if I drop off—again—as my life is still in a whirlwind related to the separation.

To this posting, I received one response:

Jason Conley:

Wow. That is one heck of an introduction. It is unfortunate that you are going through so much. I have never understood how a woman can be with a man that does not accept her children. I am a stepfather of a great 16 year old. I have been raising her since she was four and love as if she were my own. I really hope the best for you. I cannot imagine what you are going through not being able to see your kids as much as you would like. My heart goes out to you and I hope you do not have to drop the class.

Jeremiah Hall Palmer
COLL300
June 10, 2012
Introduction

Dear Dr. Myron,

As you may have already figured out—through the title of this document, the name attached to the submission, and the very first line on this page—my name is Jeremiah. First, I would like to admit that I am partially recycling a letter that I wrote for a previous attempt at taking this course; without that admission I could easily be accused of plagiarizing myself—a notion which I’ve always found ridiculous. Secondly, I’d like to apologize for breaking away slightly from the model given for this assignment—the personal introduction will run for more than a single paragraph.

As mentioned, this is my second attempt at this course; the prior hadn’t faired well due to some changes which came about in my life—changes that still have an effect on my life today. In late February of this year my wife of eight years, partner of nine, had an affair with a coworker; the following day she informed me that our relationship was through. Over the course of the following month I remained at home with her so that I could continue to care for our children. This period was quite painful, and left me in a state of depression in which I had no desire to continue with my course-load. In mid-April I left my home and moved into my parent’s attic. We continued to talk and see each other regularly until the first week of May, when the other man moved in; two weeks later our son moved in with me because of the friction caused by this man which has no desire to be surrounded by children. Life has hung in some twisted state of limbo—best described as some sort of purgatory—in which she still begs me to hang on, to wait and see; she has discovered that living with a selfish boy eight years her junior isn’t what he had her to believe it would be. She has since requested we attend counseling to see if there is a chance to repair the damage, and to muster the strength of removing her dead-weight.

It is very possible that I will be faced with the same mental anguish that I faced a few months ago over the course of this class. Do not be surprised if my work suffers or I disappear altogether. I may allude to my current status online from time to time; therefore, if you are curious, I would like to invite you to Google my regular Internet handle, “kg4vma”. In doing so you may also find some of my previous writings and school assignments that I have posted on varying profiles and blogs.

With regard to prior assignments, I have had some experience in drafting reports, providing analyses and supplying opinionated/persuasive writings in response to varying assignments and prompts. I would have to say that most of these assignments have been quite enjoyable, as I do tend to have a preference for expressing myself in writing. I must admit, however, that I struggled in writing responses for a course I took that dealt with human sexuality. This course was quite troubling for me as I was taking the class while being separated from my wife—the separation had occurred, in part, due to issues of infidelity; yes, this is a recurring theme that has gone on for several years.

I cannot offer much on my thoughts or interpretations of academic writing as related by my prior educators. I do understand that there are certain “rules” to writing when the works are for a particular audience; unfortunately, I have issues with the rules from time to time, as I prefer to lay my thoughts out as they happen. Additionally, I hate revising my thoughts to fit the “acceptable” format; this usually becomes more evident in “forum” postings for class work. In forums I frequently break from the main topic and develop some form of sub-topic in order to better illustrate a point. These methods however would not necessarily “fly” in many professional or trade publications.

In order to analyze other writing styles, practices, audiences, etc., I frequently turn the text that I am reading into an internal conversation or dialogue. In my personal experience I have found that if I can assign “voices” to the text and create defined characters for the audience I can then become one of the speakers and members of the crowd; once I have achieved this, I can begin to host my own internal open- “hometown” forum.

The strongest skill or tactic that I have relied upon since seventh grade is “free-writing”. I discovered that if I simply try and let the words flow, no matter how ridiculous or unrelated, I will eventually discover the words needed to develop a proper response. Without the use of this technique I face a cold-start which often triggers “writer’s-block”. A downside, however, is that it can lead to a lengthy writing; the upside is that what I do cut out often makes good fodder for a personal journal entry.

I do not know what sort of tools I should hope to learn from this course, nor do I have any expectations thereof. In my high school days I discovered that if I paid less attention to the “black and white” of a course I would be able to see many more colorful elements; therefore I try not to pay too much attention to course descriptions and syllabi. In doing so, I’ve found that I absorb more of the information—thinking in abstract grabs my attention and grasps at my mind.

I hope this letter meets the requirements, and has helped introduce you to the trouble you’re about to face! (Something else I frequently do in my writing—make very poor jokes.) Thank you for your time. I look forward to seeing what this course will bring.

Sincerely,
Jeremiah Hall Palmer

Yep. Another post that had been a homework assignment follows:

It has been some time since I have written a “research paper” as an assignment; I have, however, written several research driven responses over the past year—the latest being one telling of a military incident.

For an EDMG230 forum response/assignment I was given the task of seeking out an example of a military incident for a critique of how the situation had or had not been properly handled. For this task I managed to dig up a few articles on a “broken arrow”—damaged missile—incident that took place in 2003 at a Naval base in Washington. As part of my style of writing—and as this assignment leaned on giving an opinion of the outcome—I located a blogger that wrote of the incident as well in a conspiracy-like fashion; normally this sort of “trick” is unacceptable for collegiate writings, however I believed my audience would be accepting of the maneuver.

In my writing I sourced materials from the Associated Press and the blogger, making every effort to balance the story I was presenting until I reached the point where I was to critique the incident. Once my critique began I strayed from sourcing further material, so as I would not be accused of manipulating source material . At one point, I also placed a separate conspiracy-theory of my own in the midst of my critique; as this could have been seen as being written in at an inappropriate section—well ahead of the conclusion—I chose to place the theory in brackets to designate that the thought was in fact separate and my own.

In reviewing what I had written I found one mistake which could have been easily avoided had I carefully proofread the text before publishing—an error in citation. In the fourth paragraph of my response I had mistakenly placed a citation following the period of a sentence; this mistake was made due to the ways in which I write—I “free-write” all of my work without citations first, and edit afterward.

Aside from that one particular mistake, I did not notice any other errors that could be interpreted as plagiarism—intentional or otherwise. As always, the largest area of concern in writing is proofreading.

[To see the response referenced in this response, visit: http://kg4vma.livejournal.com/526907.html]