FEMA Emphasizes Content

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is focusing less on message control and more on the most effective tools for disseminating information.

“There was a social media gold rush in D.C. Everyone started going out and starting sites, but they didn’t have content,” says John Shea of FEMA.

Shea says it’s important for agencies to be flexible using social media so they can provide high-quality information to citizens efficiently. “A lot of these tools — Twitter, Facebook — they may not be around in five years,” he says. “They may be entirely different. Don’t get stuck on tools. Get stuck on process.”

FEMA was the first federal agency to negotiate an agreement with the video-sharing Website YouTube. The agency has negotiated similar agreements with social networking companies Facebook and MySpace.

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