A tweet about diapers caught my eye during my frantic Twitter searches last weekend to find information on Hurricane Irene’s impact on Long Beach Island. It read “If u have problems finding diapers please DM me your # so we can talk. @darkangel1321” and was from the “verified” account of Newark, N.J., Mayor Cory Booker (@CoryBooker on Twitter).
I took a couple of seconds to read the mayor’s Twitter stream and found he was doing more than help moms find diapers. He was also using Twitter to gain a better situational awareness of what was going on in his city as well as reassure and inform residents about shelter locations, street closings, and the dangers of driving during the hurricane. Later in the weekend, I noticed several tweets from him flash across my screen, including one about him calling the fire department for a tweep with a gas leak.
When I ran across a video interview of Mayor Booker on “Piers Morgan Tonight” (yes, via Twitter) yesterday, I had to pick it for my September 2011 video clip of the month. Except for the very beginning (which focuses on hype), the video provides a fascinating example of a city mayor who gets social media and was able to use it during a hurricane to keep people safe and prepared while minimizing panic.
What do you think about cities using social media in an emergency? Please share your comments.
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