mobile phones in a crisis - dave levy
DESCRIPTION
CrisisCamp Ignite presentation given at the World Bank.TRANSCRIPT
Mobile Phones in a Crisis: Maybe You Should Listen.
(CC) Flickr user hotdogger13
As communicators, we want to get information to the audience…Source
Many Many Many
…in a crisis, it’s even more important
(cc) Flickr User Bossanostra
But trying toreach themmobile?
You’re late to the party
Technology Lesson #1
The normal stress on a cell network is high just to find your phone to deliver a SMS.
Source: Traynor, “Characterizing the Limitations of Third-Party EAS Over Cellular Text Messaging Services”, Sept. 2008
Technology Lesson #2 (now with math)
In an emergency, location and timing are even more challenging. As volume and need goes up, the delay of messages gets worse.
Source: Traynor, “Characterizing the Limitations of Third-Party EAS Over Cellular Text Messaging Services”, Sept. 2008
It’s going to be ok.
Just remember this: the mobile phone is personal and social
media ( cc) Flickr User Pink Sherbet Photography
When a crisis happens, the reaction isn’t always to *receive* information. It’s just as much about dispersing it from first-hand sources.
Janis Krums via TwitPic
That’s where listening comes in.
If an emergency happened, would you
expect 911 to call you?
XKCD CARTOON, “RTFM”
Don’t think of mobile as a channel to get to people during a crisis.
(cc) Flickr user rogiro
1. The phone is the first personal media.
2. The phone is permanently carried.
3. The phone is the first always-on mass Media.
4. The phone has a built-in payment mechanism.
5. The phone is a creative tool available always at the point of creative impulse.
6. Mobile has near-perfect audience information.
7. Only mobile can capture the social context of media consumption.
Rule 5 of the 7 Unique Traits of Mobile Media
Credit: Tomi T. Ahonen, “Thought Piece: Mobile is the 7th Mass Media” May 2008
You can find out an awful lot from what people share and interact on their mobile phones.
(cc) Flickr User Laughing Squid
And these channels are where a crisis will be discussed.
Instead of trying to find your audience, now you know exactly
who can help you get your info out there.
(cc) Flickr User Si1very
It’s an opportunity to let them reach you.
(cc) Flickr User I, Timmy
Just because it’s a crisis doesn’t mean you need to push.
From Gary Larson’s “The Far Side”
Let your audience tell you what they need.And mobile can be an invaluable tool to reach people in the middle of it.
(cc) Flickr User The Joy Of The Mundane
(cc) Dave Levy [email protected]: @levydr
Dave Levy is an Account Executive on Edelman’s Digital Public Affairs team in Washington, DC. Dave came to Edelman in 2007 after he received a master’s degree in public relations at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. He has a deep background in digital media research and assisted, designed and wrote studies on the effects of interactive media as an undergraduate at Boston College. Dave has also written extensively on how mobile communication can be used as a vehicle for grassroots and public affairs advocacy, as well as the impact of real-time mobile communication on mainstream media during major events or disasters. A self-proclaimed geek, he blogs often about the social aspects of social media at Most Likely To Die Alone.