COVOST Article in FEMA Tech-Hazards Digest

By Micki Trost, CSEPP Public Affairs IPT Co-Chair

Recent disasters have illustrated how social media are used increasingly by both emergency management organizations to communicate public safety information and members of the public to update their status, location, or describe events they are witnessing. Emergency managers now use a VOST to provide situational awareness through social media and online information sites during emergencies.

VOST is a team of trusted agents who lend support via the Internet to those onsite in an emergency. The volume of data generated during a disaster may be overwhelming to has been trained on the VOST.

CSEPP public information officers in Colorado and Kentucky participated in COVOST activation as members for the Colorado 2015 Alpine World Ski Championships and 4/20 events. The training and participation in a non-emergency enabled the CSEPP PIOs to use the specific skills that would be performed during a real emergency. The activation also highlights the importance of maintaining situational awareness during non-disasters affecting our communities.

The CSEPP PA IPT is currently discussing how the VOST concept can be used program wide.

Micki Trost is the Strategic Communications Director for the Colorado Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. She also serves as the co-chair of the CSEPP PA IPT.

View original article posted in the May-June FEMA Tech-Hazards Digest - Scroll to page 4.

Remarkable Colorado Social Media Exercise

Colorado is a remarkable state! 

How remarkable is it? Find out through the first ever Remarkable Colorado social media exercise during the Colorado Integrated Emergency Management Conference - February 24-26, 2015.

During this conference the Colorado Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management (DHSEM) Strategic Communications Team will lead a conference wide social media training and exercise opportunity.  Inspired by Colorado's 50+ remarkable Fourteeners, the training will consist of over 50 unique questions and tasks each designed to encourage conference attendees to use their personal accounts to practice and exercise social media tools and concepts.

The social media exercise will have two tracks.  The first will be centered around the hashtag #CEMA15.  The tasks and questions in the #CEMA15 training track will challenge users to engage in the conference using social media and are also designed to get users thinking conceptually about how they could use social media tools to benefit their own emergency management program.

The second track is focused on Remarkable Colorado.  The Remarkable Colorado social media exercise will present over 50 unique tasks and questions to the hashtag #RemarkableCO.  These tasks will use the backdrop of our majestic Fourteeners to challenge users to learn and use new social media tools, tips and tricks.

How will the exercise work?

The DHSEM Strategic Communications Team will lead both the #CEMA15 and #RemarkableCO training tracks through the @COVOST social media accounts.  Throughout the conference tasks and questions will be posted on the COVOST Twitter and Facebook pages using the appropriate hashtags. Users are encouraged to respond directly to the posts.

The questions and tasks will simultaneously be made available in hard copy at the DHSEM table at the conference and listed in full on www.COVOST.blogspot.com.  This will be done to allow interested users to go through each task and question on their own time as they are able.

Micki Trost, DHSEM Strategic Communications Director, and Nathan Hunerwadel, Communications Specialist, will be available in person at the conference to answer any questions.  They will also be available via their social media accounts (@PIO3Micki and @Hunerwadel respectively).

Ready to get started?

Start out by making sure you are following and liking the following accounts on Facebook and Twitter.  Questions and tasks will be posted on this site beginning 2/24/15 at 7 a.m.

Twitter:

CEMAColorado

COEmergency
READYColorado

COVOST

Facebook:

CEMA.Colorado

COEmergency
READYColorado

COVOST

Not attending the Conference?

You can still play! If you would like to sharpen your social media skills please feel free to play along with us! Experienced social media users and COVOST members are encouraged to participate and are welcome to help answer questions that new social media users might ask during this exercise.  Remember, there is no such thing as a social media expert.  We all can learn something new during this conference!

Thank you from DHSEM Director Kevin Klein

The Colorado Virtual Operations Support Team dedicated 400 hours in support of Eagle County during the 2015 Alpine World Ski Championships.  We could not do it without the dedication of our many volunteers.  The video below shares a thank you from DHSEM Director Kevin Klein.

COVOST Supports Eagle County during the #Vail2015 Alpine World Ski Championships

The Colorado Virtual Operations Support Team has been activated to support Eagle County during the 2015 Alpine World Ski Championships.

The mission of the COVOST is to lead and support the State of Colorado and our local Colorado communities through the innovative use of social media and other online tools. The team has been activated by Eagle County to watch social media for emergency management concerns, rumors, mentions of agencies & amplification of official messages sent by approved agencies during the 2015 Alpine World Ski Championships.

Three days into the event the COVOST is happy to report that the trend on social media shows excited spectators, busy media and engaged vendors.

The Colorado Virtual Operations Support Team is managed by the Colorado Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management and is made up of volunteers spread across the state, the nation and the world. Multiple members across seven different states have been involved in this activation. The team as whole will have logged over 100 hours in support of Eagle County by the end of the day today. The team will remain activated through February 15th.

Wonder how the team works? Check out this VOST Introduction and Orientation Video:

For more information visit www.covost.blogspot.com. You can also follow the COVOST on Facebook and Twitter. Contact Nathan Hunerwadel, COVOST Manager, if you would like to join the COVOST, activate the COVOST or if you have any questions.

Junior VOST: Guidelines for an Under 18 Program

These guidelines were recently posted to the Virtual Operations Support Group site.  

The COVOST supports these guidelines. 

This post has been reprinted with permission.

Recently, the #SMEM and #VOST communities were presented with a new VOST Volunteer initiative for under 18s, a wonderfully innovative idea, but one that raises concerns about involving children in supporting official response agencies during all phases of the disaster life cycle. Research clearly shows risks to children and teens from exposure to visual materials that can trigger a strong visceral reaction, yet Virtual Operations Support Teams routinely tasked with monitoring social media in an emergency or disaster situation cannot control the material to which they are exposed in the live stream. Once something is seen, it can’t be unseen. This paper aims to:

1. help agencies and organizations address key issues related to the participation of youth and children in VOST missions, including monitoring social media accounts.
2. raise awareness of the science and research about the risks to children, and
3. establish responsible and safe VOST policy guidelines to recommend to those considering a Junior VOST or community youth volunteer program as part of their social media emergency management strategy.

The Science

Carol Dunn is a Disaster Risk Reduction Specialist who specializes in raising awareness of the implications of current findings related to cognitive neurology and how organizations deal with and communicate risk. She has put together the following collection of research work and articles to assist planning decisions:

• The teenage brain processes fear learning differently than adults. Teens are unable to extinguish fears, and trauma experienced as a teenager has a greater chance of causing long term changes in behavior. http://weill.cornell.edu/news/pr/2012/09/learning-to-overcome-fear-is-difficult-for-teens.html

• Studies also show that when children are immersed in information about a traumatic event, they risk experiencing PTSD symptoms even when they aren’t directly affected by the event. http://www.ptsd.va.gov/professional/trauma/basics/media-coverage-traumatic-events.asp

• Professional advice is for caregivers to limit children and teen’s exposure to traumatic situations. http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/downloads/pdf/mhdpr/child-tv.pdf and http://dartcenter.org/content/children%E2%80%99s-reactions-to-trauma-related-news-media#.VIjGhGd0w7U

• A study has found that dispatchers face greater risks from trauma linked to duty related exposure to traumatic experiences that happen to others, implying that direct physical exposure isn’t required for an individual to undergo the long term changes related to experiencing trauma.
  • Summary: http://www.niu.edu/mediarelations/news/2012/03/911-ptsd.shtml
  • Study: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jts.21687/abstract

• Wired has an article about the evidence of people who moderate images experiencing long term effects. http://www.wired.com/2014/10/content-moderation/#slide-id-1593151?src=longreads

From the moment you see the first image you are changed for good .… But where law enforcement has developed specialized programs and hires experienced mental health professionals …. many tech companies have yet to grasp the seriousness of the problem.

• Some adolescents have a strong negative response to negative imagery, which is linked to an increase risk of PTSD http://www.washington.edu/news/2014/07/15/brain-responses-to-emotional-images-predict-ptsd-symptoms-after-boston-marathon-bombing/

• Greater exposure to post disaster information and imagery increases children & youth’s risk of PTSD: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17276653

• Previous exposure to traumatic situations has been found to increase risk of long term brain changes, so even if individuals don’t respond negatively in the short term, the situations they are exposed to today can play a role in later trauma. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2816923/

Potential Benefits of Junior VOST

We also recognize that volunteering at a young age has been found to: promote a healthy lifestyle and choices, enhance development, teach life skills, improve the community, and encourage a lifelong service ethic. (source) Therefore, it is not our intention to squelch student VOSTs, but to ensure that programs operate with full awareness of the risks.

The same good management techniques apply to children as to adults. However, they may need to be modified or adapted to appropriately relate to children.

The VOSG seeks to ensure the highest standards of safety to everyone under any program we are asked to endorse or recommend. With this in mind, we have outlined a suggested program that we think would provide a good model for how to incorporate student volunteers appropriately within a Virtual Operations Support Team. Examples given are for guidance purposes only; responsibility lies with the Agency or Organization managing the VOST or student program.

Example Junior VOST Program Outline

The team’s purpose, objectives and goals are outlined in an age appropriate way to maximize youth opportunities and the community vision for team growth and progression towards joining a professional team when old enough (18+). This program is designed to mitigate risk to children by aligning the Junior VOST more closely with a “Preparedness VOST” than any other phase in the disaster life cycle, with some activities and tasks explicitly excluded that a fully operational VOST would engage in when deployed during a disaster to support an overwhelmed or under resourced agency. Team members may not be placed in a situation where they could be exposed to the risks and stress that even hardened digital first responders often find challenging, such as a situation with fatalities. Students are encouraged to participate in live VOST Exercises using benign events, such as a sports game, to become familiar with how to use social media and to communicate with authorities should a real live emergency be presented to them during their day-to-day activities or as a survivor of an incident in which they are directly impacted. With this in mind, we strongly recommend any mission that includes minors explicitly excludes monitoring the live stream in a real emergency or disaster situation, allocating such tasks only to a professional social media monitoring team or VOST comprising adults with more advanced training. To manage risk, Junior VOST missions and tasks are classified prior to activation using a common rating system and re-evaluated during operations should unforeseen escalations occur. Parents and guardians are asked to sign a waiver and are given information about what is involved.

Example Junior VOST Program Values

• Educating and acquainting the student with a modified, age-appropriate VOST environment, encouraging an interest in using social media for emergency management (SMEM) and fostering future leadership.
• Recognizing that service of Junior VOST volunteers is both needed and appreciated.
• Recognizing that serving as a VOST volunteer is a privilege and carries great responsibility.
• Acknowledging that a Junior VOST cannot replace or replicate an adult team.
• Encouraging students who are responsible, dependable, caring, have the ability to follow direction, and who can provide high quality support service to our professional teams, and eventually, join them.

Example Mission Rating System

• G: General - All Ages
• PG: Adult Supervision and Guidance Suggested. Some Material May Not Be Suitable For Children.
• PG-13: Adult Supervision and Guidance Strongly Cautioned. Some Material May Be Inappropriate For Children Under 13.
• R: Restricted. Under 18 Requires Adult Supervision and Guidance.
• NC-18: No One Under 18 Authorized To Support Mission

Children are closely supervised and any escalation that presents during an activation triggers re-evaluation of the mission for appropriateness to the age group.

Example Junior VOST Tasks

Selected tasks that might be safely allocated to a Junior VOST team, grouped by phase. Each task would be rated for age appropriateness.

Preparation:

• Create VOST workbook templates and populate with search strings, key websites and resources, ready for use.
• Create “Lay of the Land” lists of official social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube etc.
• Create or source local community maps to mark emergency related resources - shelter locations, hospitals, school etc.
• Monitor app use in the local community and keep the Agency informed of new apps and trends of interest, especially in use amongst youth.
• Assist and support Preparedness Messaging: Junior VOST could pull together fact sheets on all-hazards events and possibly assist in breaking those down into social media messages to be available for PIOs to use. This age group might also assist with official preparedness accounts such as @READYColorado messaging or monitoring instead of the operational @COEmergency side of the house.
• Help build Community Resilience by promoting the use of SMS alerts, Code Red, etc.
• Tech support: Help professional EM staff gain a better understanding of the world of social media, set up systems and troubleshoot tech issues.
• Prepare a coordination summary for Junior VOST reporting of 911 type issues.

Response and Recovery:

• Junior VOSTs are not engaged during the response phase of an emergency or disaster situation due to high stress levels and risk of trauma involved in routine VOST monitoring activities.
• A Junior VOST may be able to assist with some limited recovery tasks where pre-filtered feeds can be determined as suitable content, such as sorting, categorizing, or mapping, including identifying volunteer opportunities.
• At no time should a Junior VOST member be asked to monitor live unfiltered feeds while an emergency response is ongoing, neither to help identify 911 issues on social media, nor prepare official reports.

Important issues that also need careful consideration, but have not been addressed here for reasons of length, include liability and accountability. Authors and Contributors: Joanna Lane, Carol Dunn, Kim Stephens, Caroline Milligan, Nathan Hunerwadel, Micki Trost.


 Junior VOST - Guidelines for an Under 18 Program by The Virtual Operations Support Group is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

---

#SMEMau Australian Disasters – 2nd Annual #SMEMchat Special Event

Members of the Colorado Virtual Operations Support team will be supporting this event.  Check it out!

This week, Virtual Operations Support Group, will facilitate a discussion on the role of social media in the management of Australian emergencies and disasters. The first #SMEMau Special #SMEMchat event on Australian Bushfires, was hosted by VOSG in Jan 2013. Since then, the importance of new technology to manage all aspects of emergency and disaster communications most effectively has been a daily reminder. Latest hot topics include #VOST, Virtual EOCs (Emergency Operations Centres), Twitter Alerts, Digital Humanitarian Support and more, including the use of Partners tasked to help manage situational awareness and public engagement in complex environments. As this social convergence is taking place, what exactly is the role of new technology in Australia, how it developing and what are the challenges?

Join us on the #SMEMau tag as we explore the issues!

Where: On Twitter, event hashtag: #SMEMau.

For those new to twitter, follow the discussion at http://bit.ly/RPe6ow or search for the #SMEMau hashtag.

When: Thursday 8th May 2014 – 1900 to 2030 US EDT

Friday 9th May 2014 – 0900 to 1030 Australia AET

For other time zones: www.timeanddate.com

“Read Ahead” Participant information posted here

Some of the major incidents in Australia 2013 – 2014 are listed here

Here’s a list of some of the major incidents experienced in Australia since our last event, as provided to us by the Emergency Management Agencies in Australia, coordinated by VOST Vic for the Virtual Operations Support Group. http://bit.ly/1imWNEM

10 Questions (example only – actual questions may change).

• How has the use of social media in emergency management in Australia changed in the past year?
• Social media lends itself well to community recovery. How can we encourage its use to enable people to help each other?
• Many people reach out for help with pets/livestock. How does social media assist in the management of animals during disasters?
• Emergency hashtags are an often-overlooked component of a communication strategy. Is your organization prepared with an emergency hashtag strategy?
• Do you use infographics to communicate with the public?
• Do you use press releases and infographics during your activations to inform the press/ public?
• What social media tools do you provide the public to help them prepare for disasters?
• Do you engage digital volunteers during a disaster? If so who?
• What social media tools do you promote to help the public help themselves and each other in the recovery phase?
• …. UAV use, Twitter Alerts, Project Self-Serve and more.

Additional questions? You can submit those in advance here: http://bit.ly/1tzmTsY

The information in this post has been 'reblogged' from VOSG.us.  Please visit VOSG.us for additional information.

COVOST Introduction & Brief History

Ours is a digital age where the virtual world must be fully engaged.

The Colorado Virtual Operations Support Team (COVOST) grew out of the preexisting Jefferson County Virtual Operations Support Team (JeffcoVOST).

The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office realized that the modern information sharing strategy must differ from traditional press release based ‘pad n paper’ media outreach.  The Sheriff’s Office thus created and activated, in 2013, the JeffcoVOST as part of its overall integrated social media and public information strategy.

The intent of the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office was to define and refine the integrated social media and public information strategy.  To this end, the Sheriff’s Office used the JeffcoVOST to not only support the information strategy but also to gather information for the purpose of informing and influencing the planning and operational response while simultaneously providing vital overall situational awareness.

In March of 2014 the Colorado Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management (DHSEM) adopted the JeffcoVOST and restructured the team into the COVOST.  DHSEM continues to work in close partnership with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office to insure the continuity and success of the COVOST program.

The COVOST is specifically designed to be a resource that will be available to the State of Colorado and any local community that wishes to fully experience the dual benefits of both engaging with, and listening and responding to, the modern virtual landscape.

The COVOST is not meant to replace or substitute any social media response or plan.  The COVOST is a resource that can be activated to supplement or enhance a community’s existing social media for emergency response (SMEM) plan.

The virtual operations and SMEM world is a relatively new realm with exciting possibilities.  The Colorado Virtual Operations Support Team stands ready to further define and refine this virtual arena while leading and supporting communities across Colorado as they continue to mold SMEM into the powerful reality we already know it to be.

Links:

Jefferson County Sheriff's Office social media use during the #LowerNorthForkFire.

Jefferson County Sheriff's Office social media use during the #BlueBellFire.

Jefferson County Sheriff's Office social media use during the #LimeGulchFire.

Jefferson County Sheriff's Office social media use during the #JeffcoFlood.

Storify documenting the first utilization of the JeffcoVOST during the #JeffcoFlood.

Mastering Social Media: An Analysis of Jefferson County's Communications during the 2013 Flood. Paper written by Lise Ann Denis documenting the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office use of social media and the JeffcoVOST during the #JeffcoFlood.

SMILECON

I just thought I would post a quick link to the SMILE Conference (Social Media the Internet and Law Enforcement). I have not viewed these videos yet but they look like they will contain some great learning material. Enjoy!



http://smileconference.com/live/

Twitter Training Storify (Repost)

Here is the link to the storify. I have removed the imbedded link.

storify.com/smem911/espioc-twitter-training

Special #SMEMAU Analysis and Archives

Please visit www.vosg.us for all of the great analysis and archives that were set up for the recent #SMEMAU conversation.

Here are the archives and data that I contributed.  Many more resources are available via www.vosg.us.

Rowfeeder Summary Graphs PPT:

 
Smemau charts from hunerwadel

Rowfeeder Analytics:
Conversation:
Parting
Volume
Influence  
Location
People
Snapshot
http://storify.com/smem911/smemau-1-24-13

Storify Archive:
http://storify.com/smem911/smemau-1-24-13

Tags Explorer Archive:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?hl=en_GB&hl=en_GB&key=0Ao7x0dvoT_WOdHJMcTREcm5kdERmeHFfQWdjZW1kN2c&output=html

Tags Explorer Visualization:
http://hawksey.info/tagsexplorer/?key=0Ao7x0dvoT_WOdHJMcTREcm5kdERmeHFfQWdjZW1kN2c&sheet=oaw

For more info on the Tags archive and visualization by Mashe Hawksey please visit: http://mashe.hawksey.info/twitter-archive-tagsv3/ 

Free Hashtracking Report (only shows 500 most recent posts):
http://www.hashtracking.com/fast-report/?hashtag=smemau

Moving on into 2013...

Wow! It has been a long time since I have updated this blog! It has, in fact, been a terribly long time since I have participated in anything remotely related to SMEM.  I hope you can forgive me the long absence.  I do think I have a very valid excuse.

After a very busy year, my wife and I were very thankful to take a break after the birth of our son.  We spent many weeks simply enjoying God's amazing handiwork so beautifully displayed in our little baby boy's smile.  After returning to work for a brief few weeks our family then set off on a long awaited Christmas road trip to Pittsburgh, Washington D.C., and Tennessee.  We are now back in beautiful Colorado and ready to get back to work.

The only thing holding us back is all of the hours of work that we are putting into purchasing a new home and renting our current home.  We are incredibly blessed to have the opportunity to move into a larger place.  I am looking forward to being able to set up a real office with real space.  My SMEM functionality just might skyrocket after I take advantage of the space and set up my new and improved social media work station (which will unfortunately also serve as my home office where all those lovely things called 'bills' will be monitored and serviced in a timely fashion).

After we complete the purchase of our new place I look forward to diving back into the SMEM world.  My plan for this blog is to continue sharing all of the great tips and tricks that I learn through the next year.  I would love to be able to maintain a weekly blog post.  We will see if my new work schedule will permit that level of productivity.  Last year I was able to spend many hours learning about the SMEM world during the slower hours of my night shift.  This year I will be working a day shift that is guaranteed to be much faster paced.  The faster pace my limit my involvement in the SMEM world but I do intend to stay as involved as possible.

I pray that you are able to have a very blessed 2013.  As always, if you have any great SMEM tips, tricks, or resources send them my way!

God Bless,
Nathan  

The Lower North Fork Fire Integrated Social Media Strategy

Looking for an example where a social media strategy was put to the test during a real life type I incident? 

Look no further!

Information has just been released, via www.jeffcosheriff.blogspot.com, that shares all of the details and statistics behind the successful Lower North Fork Fire "Integrated Social Media Strategy".

Check out: http://jeffcosheriff.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-integrated-social-media-strategy.html for all the details.

I have reblogged the post below.  Let me know if you have any questions!

The Integrated Social Media Strategy
During the Lower North Fork Fire the Jefferson County Type III Incident Management Team engaged the public using a fully integrated social media strategy.   

This blog post provides access to a number of resources, archives, and documents that explain how the integrated strategy worked.   

We are releasing these statistical and analytical documents in order to share with our local and global community the strategy's many successes and lessons learned. 

If you have any questions about any of this material or how it was obtained please contact us at jeffcosheriff@gmail.com. 

Report:

•  Executive Summary

•  @JeffcoSheriffCo: Integrated Social Media & Public Information Strategy

Powerpoint Presentation

• Integrated Social Media Strategy: Powerpoint

 Summary Sheets: 

• Twitter Fact Sheet

• Google Products Fact Sheet

Twitter (@jeffcosheriffco) Documentation and Analysis 

• Each tweet from @JeffcoSheriffCo with statisistics via Crowdbooster.com

• Documentation of every Tweet sent via @jeffcosheriffco via Twitter

• Documentation of all Tweets containing @JeffcoSheriffCo as Produced by Rowfeeder.com:

• @JeffcoSheriffCo Statistics and Data as Produced by Rowfeeder.com

• Klout Statistics and Data as produced by Klout.com

#LowerNorthForkFire Hashtag Documentation and Analysis

• #LowerNorthForkFire Hashtag Statistics

• #LowerNorthForkFire Tweets (3/28/12-4/6/12)

• Notable #LowerNorthForkFire Tweets

Blog (www.jeffcosheriff1.blogspot.com) Posts:

• Blog Post Day 1 (March 26th)

• Blog Post Day 2 (March 27th)

• Blog Post Day 3 (March 28th)

• Blog Post Day 4 (March 29th)

• Blog Post Day 5 (March 30th)

• Blog Posts Day 6 (March 31st)

• Blog Post Day 7 (April 1st)

• Blog Post Day 8 (April 2nd)

• Blog Statistics and Data as produced by Blogger

Google Maps, Picasa, Google Docs:

•  Google Products Statistics and Data as produced by Google

Feedback via Twitter and Email:

• Positive Feedback via Twitter

• Suggestions/Criticism of @JeffcoSheriffCo’s use of Social Media

• Social Media Feedback sent to jeffcosheriff@gmail.com

New SMEM911 Activity!

It has been a busy night!

SMEM911 now has brand new Storify, Pinterest, and Tumblr accounts!

Storify: http://storify.com/smem911

Tumbler: http://smem911.tumblr.com/

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/smem911/

Also working on a Facebook Page: .... http://www.facebook.com/Smem911

Add these Social Media tools to this blog (smem911.blogspot.com) and the twitter account (@SMEM911) and you can see that I have my hands full!

Think there is a 'must have' account that I need to get?  Let me know!

Why have I created these accounts?  The only way to learn how to use a social media platform is to activily use it!  I use each of these accounts to explore their potential and learn how they might be used during an emergency or any other critical incident.

With Great Tweeting Comes Great Responsibility

As I reflect on the various #SMEM developments from the past week I am somewhat appalled at how much negative attention was showered upon the Larimer County Sheriff's Office (@LarimerSheriff).  The criticism began after the Sheriff dared to ask the media to refrain from immediately publishing video or photos of homes damaged by the High Park Fire (#HighParkFire, #Cofire).  Depending on whose account you read it seemed as if the First Amendment itself had gone up in smoke!

The Denver Post shed light on the issue when they published an article commenting on the Sheriff's request and subsequent media response. The article summed up the issue stating:

"At times the journalistic imperative to deliver news clashed with authorities' efforts to control the flow of information  
On Monday, the Larimer County Sherriff's Office issued a request to the media not to show photos of destroyed homes out of respect to homeowners.
Station managers acknowledged the sensitivity of the issue, but turned aside the plea on journalistic grounds."

In the #SMEM world this relatively tame article was quickly drowned out by very loud voices which looked to condemn the Sheriff for issuing his request.  Blogger Dave Statter (@STATter911 http://www.statter911.com/) wrote a flippant article which, in extreme sarcastic flare, outlined his view of the perceived government clamp down. You can read his article here: 

Those ghouls are at it again: TV stations turn down Colorado Sheriff's request not to show burned or burning homes.

This was followed up by an article from Emergency Management Magazine (@EmergencyMgtMag) entitled: Should Law Enforcement Determine What News Media Can Show or Not Show.  The article, written by Gerald Baron, did at least consider that the Sheriff's motives were not entirely maniacal:

"What is the most surprising is that the Larimer County Sheriff's office would make that request. Maybe they did it for political reasons, showing their sensitivity, while realizing that what they were asking was out of line and totally unrealistic."

But that was as forgiving as it got.  Baron concluded the article stating:

"But, maybe not. I suspect that this sad story is one more example of how some authorities are simply not understanding the world in which they now live, a world that has changed dramatically over the past few years. Larimer County Sheriff: Wake up, you are living in the Internet age."

Seriously? Do we have to jump to such harsh conclusions?  The Larimer Sheriff, though not perfect, is well aware of the Internet age.  They have a Twitter account (@LarimerSheriff) which has been pushing out constant updates (they are even mastering the art of the hashtag!) Their counterpart, @LarimerCounty, is likewise participating in the Internet information outreach campaign via Twitter and via their website.  Both entities also have corresponding Facebook accounts that are also involved in the effort.

http://www.facebook.com/#!/LarimerCounty

http://www.facebook.com/#!/larimersheriff

Clearly the Larimer County Sheriff's Office is aware that we are living in an Internet age.  If nothing else the following tweets illustrate this:

The fact that @LarimerSheriff responded to this issue via a Twitter conversation with @CalFireNews is a clear example showing that the Sheriff's Office's has a strong understanding of the Internet age.

Now let's take a close look at the Sheriff's message:

"The Sheriff's Office asked that press not show burned homes of people who had not been notified yet. Not controlling the press."

Can we in the #SMEM community calm down and simply take the Sheriff's request at face value? The Sheriff by no means squashed the 1st Amendment.  He simply asked the media to give him some time to deliver horrible news to affected families.

Is it too much to ask that everyone exercise some basic civility and responsibility even while freely exercising their First Amendment rights?  Ours certainly is a brave new world where information flows freely and swiftly but that by no means must lead to a world where basic manners and rules are antiquated or defunct.

I have begun to use the phrase, "With Great Tweeting, Comes Great Responsibility".  Let's face it, when we, the public, or the media press "send" our messages, pictures, and videos are immediately broadcast to the world.  This is a great and powerful tool which must be taken advantage of by the all entities to include the government, media and public.  Yet this same fact of immediate broadcast capability does not diminish our responsibility to ensure that the message is accurate and appropriately delivered.  On the contrary, our new found power only increases our responsibility.

When I consider the Larimer County Sheriff's request I see a reasonable request that simply attempts to allow the managing agency to make important notifications before a family's pain and suffering slaps them in the face via live television or live tweet.

To close, I am must share that I am disappointed in some members of our #SMEM community.  I expect more from us.  I expect that we would embrace my new favorite maxim, "With Great Tweeting Comes Great Responsibility".  Let's encourage everyone to go forth and exercise their First Amendment rights, but let's also ask them to do so wisely and with great care. 

Just because we can inform the world by hitting "send" does not mean we always should!