Using Social Media to Connect With Students During Emergencies

Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, Youtube — it’s no secret that Social Networking Sites are popular among college students.  In fact, 2009 marked the year that Facebook surpassed email as the top form of communication, according to Nielsen Online.

In response to that, colleges across the United States are stepping up their online presence to try and engage their students.  A majority of colleges have a presence in social media, as 33 percent of colleges maintain a blog, 29 maintain a presence on social networking Web sites, 27 percent maintain message- or bulletin-boards, 19 percent employ video blogging, and 14 percent issue podcasts, according to a study by the National Association of College Admissions Counseling.  Beyond engaging with their students, eighty-eight percent of admission offices believed social media were either “somewhat” or “very” important to their future recruitment efforts.

With these overwhelming stats, it’s time for colleges to link social media technologies to emergency contingency plans so the school can get news out to as many students as possible in the shortest amount of time.

Waterfall’s AlertU emergency notification system already enables colleges to send text messages to students, faculty and staff in the event of a campus emergency.  The system is integrated into current emergency action plans quickly and easily, enabling an additional communication channel that delivers vital information to registered users, students, faculty and staff at colleges across the country.

Our successful emergency notification system already has email covered – the platform can re-distribute alerts to the unlimited distribution lists the school has set up – and we have recently taken the natural step to link up AlertU to social networking sites that the students are frequenting.  For example, when a school closes due to weather or the H1N1 virus, a college administrator can log onto AlertU’s site or send the notification via SMS text.  AlertU then automatically sends the text out to users and to the school’s Twitter account.

We all know almost nobody leaves home without their phone, so combine our attachment to cell phones with our addiction to social media in your emergency preparedness and you will have your students covered.  This means students studying in the library, or surfing the web on their laptop during a lecture, are sure to receive any important campus notifications during times when they may not have access to their mobile phones.

We have a lot of exciting things going on with AlertU right now, so be sure to stay tuned for exciting announcements in the coming months.

AlertU Best Practices: Emergency Alert System Testing

Securing a safe learning environment and campus community is a top priority for emergency administrators and safety officials. During an actual emergency, how can emergency administrators ensure everyone will remember their roles? AlertU recommends system administrators send emergency alert notification test messages once a quarter to their college campus subscriber base.

AlertU System Testing
System testing reminds your campus community they are subscribed to the college emergency notification system. During an actual emergency, subscribers will receive the text message and will understand how a campus emergency alert notification is communicated.

Updating School Database
Text alert messages allow subscribers the option to remove their mobile number from the college AlertU database. Text alert messages to subscribers should contain instructions on how to unsubscribe from AlertU, as subscribers may have left the college.

Stay Familiar with Procedure
Proactive and scheduled emergency alert notification system testing allows AlertU administrators and account managers to stay familiar using the AlertU platform. Regular testing allows administrators and account managers to practice accessing and setting up alerts so when the need arises, they are flawless in executing alerts during an emergency. It is important to note: more than 9 out of 10 support calls to AlertU are from administrators requesting username and passwords.

If you have questions or would like additional information on text emergency alert notification systems, please visit AlertU or contact sales.