Social media monitoring is extremely advantageous to have in our lives for public safety reasons. The latest technologies make it easy to identify issues relating to public safety in real time on social media platforms.
The relevant authorities can monitor and respond to emergencies when required by detecting meaningful patterns and trends in the information flow and streams of messages. They can identify events through significant spikes in activity and the meanings can be determined by changes in content.
Social media monitoring technology can be used by the police, government officials, community organisations, businesses and the general public to improve public safety and well-being.
Communication is the key
Social media enables us to stay in touch and relay information to the people we choose. Communication is the key to our well-being and today’s social media platforms have become increasingly versatile and powerful.
The latest evolution in social media monitoring technology enables authorities and companies to listen to the general chatter found online. It can be used a means of communicating important information to the public in a direct and personal way.
Crisis alerts
Recognising a potential crisis, alerting the public and putting the relevant emergency measures in place is one way social media can aid public safety.
The most widespread social media tools are Facebook and Twitter, with 2.91 billion and 237.8 million users respectively. These two channels alone have had a central role in monitoring world events, such as the London riots, the northern Africa revolutions and the nuclear accident and tsunami in Japan.
Social media was used by citizens for organising and spreading information, while it was also a vital communication link and major source of information for emergency services managers. Communicating in real-time enabled rescue efforts to focus on the right places.
Emergency management
Europe has several different technical systems in place for emergency management. These include satellite-based warning systems, high-level strategic and organisational systems, sirens and automated emergency messages. Social media complements these physical systems to communicate crisis information to the wider population.
Crisis communication strategies are vital for every organisation, private or governmental. Best practices during a crisis include using social media technology aligned with overall crisis communication strategies.
Disaster relief
A recent study into using social media monitoring to aid disaster relief found it was generally considered an effective platform to improve awareness among communities.
Emergency responders use social media to tailor crisis information to address people’s needs and to understand the sentiments of communities. In doing so, the information they provide can mitigate rumours and dispel panic.
Regardless of the official authorities’ presence on social media platforms, the public can keep up the conversation about the crisis or emergency. This can then be flagged up to the relevant organisations to give them real-time updates.
Importance of reliable sources
A warning from a credible source, such as a government department, or the emergency services, will have a greater impact that general chatter. This is why it’s crucial that official bodies make use of social media monitoring technology to focus on what’s happening in the world.
If a source isn’t considered as reliable and the appropriate authorities haven’t picked up on what is genuine news and added their weight to the information, people tend to doubt its authenticity.
When the content is from a reliable organisation and addresses factors such as the time, location, impact and magnitude of an event, the public are more likely to believe the message and will become motivated to take protective action.
Social media monitoring technology is an important part of our lives for public safety reasons and should be embraced and developed.
How social media monitoring technology improves public safety in the aviation industry
Communication is key in our modern society, with social media platforms making it easier than ever to stay in touch and relay information to the people you want. This is equally true for the aviation industry, which has a duty of care to its passengers and the general public. To facilitate this duty, the aviation industry benefits greatly from social media as a way to communicate with passengers and the public.
The aviation industry and social media
During social media’s infancy, many airline companies used this platform as a complaints handling system. Disgruntled airline passengers would take to social media platforms like Twitter to complain about poor service or an issue during the flight. Social media culture has changed significantly since then, and social media platforms have become more powerful and versatile in their application.
Social media monitoring technology is the latest evolution in social media, and it allows companies to listen to the chatter found online. Moreover, social media monitoring can be used as a way to communicate with passengers and the public in a more direct way.
Helping prepare for disruptions
Social media monitoring can be an excellent tool for the aviation industry to predict and prepare for disruptions in travel. British Airways left passengers irate in 2019 after an IT error at Gatwick Airport caused significant delays and flight cancellations. Passengers were quick to take to social media to air their grievances with the company.
However, this fracas could have been avoided if British Airways used social media monitoring to analyse and track the complaints on social media. If complaints start to develop online in a public space, social media monitoring can alert airline companies to the growing frustrations and deploy an emergency response procedure. This should focus on public relations and requires expert social media communication to dispel the complaints.
Real-time flight tracking and alerts
One of the most common challenges facing the aviation industry is cancellations and amendments to flight schedules at short notice. This is an everyday occurrence that could potentially result in complaints, confusion and chaos at airports. Cancellations or amendments to flights can occur for many internal and external reasons – from bad weather to staff shortages.
The aviation industry can benefit greatly from using social media to inform their passengers about any upcoming delays or cancellations in real-time.
Although this doesn’t provide a complete fix to the problem, many passengers will see these notifications with enough time to amend their travel plans. Real-time social media responses can empower the aviation industry with a way to communicate in real-time about things like weather updates and changes to flights.
As we develop more useful ways to communicate through social media, the aviation industry could stand to benefit from these innovations. From providing accurate, real-time information to passengers about flight changes to keeping passengers informed about technical difficulties, social media can be an incredibly powerful tool. Moreover, it brings passengers and airlines closer together which can improve trust levels with airlines.
If you would like to learn more about how social media monitoring technology improves public safety in various industries – do not hesitate to contact Bayanat Engineering Qatar for information or go to our website.