Ermahgerd!

Well that’s done….so back to your regularly scheduled program.
Happy Aloha Friday everyone!

After this week, I am beyond ready for a no thinking weekend.
Be advised there will be some traffic delays and alerts as the Vice-President will be in NE Ohio today.

Monitor local media WKYC WEWS WOIO FOX8 PlainDealer WTAM WCPN for updates on traffic.
Or see for yourself at OHGO or BuckeyeTraffic.
For those in the social media realm of Public Information Officers (PIOs) – I want to address a common question I get all the time:
How do I get more likes on Instagram?

My response: It’s not how much likes per Insta post, it’s really about how much engagement or interaction you have with your identified audience.
That’s right – while likes are one form of measurement of your post, it is not the only form of engagement that you can have on Instagram.

For those that post videos, you can likely include the number of views as a point of engagement.
For those that count the amount of click-throughs out of your main page (listed in your link on your Instagram profile) – yes, that too is a form of engagement.
And for those that post multiple pictures on one post, IMHO, it will likely get you more swipes! But think for a moment, that is a deterrent to more likes?

While I think posting multiple pictures are cool, I would lightly discourage it as it takes away from the viewer’s attention span – and likely causing them NOT to like as they have already committed a swipe or click to your post by reviewing other images. They are not likely to re-engage and double tap your already multiple pictures they spent time on swiping left or right on. Consider multiple pictures in one picture (Layout or PicStitch).

Yep, videos and multiple pictures will likely get you less likes because of the inherent human action replacing the actual double-tap (like) by actually viewing your posted video or viewing your multiple picture post.

So to recap:
Prediction: I believe Instagram will add more emotions to their posts to increase engagement (similar to Facebook’s multiple emotional reactions).

Don’t forget to Instagram that.
I’m no meteorologist, but I think this is a bad sign when clouds look like this. #fugly

Tune into your local National Weather Service (NWS) Office for more details about weather in your specific area.
There are 122 of them. All staffed 24/7.

They provide info. For free.
Reporting live and running inside now…
Congrats to the new FEMA Administrator Brock Long!

Brock Long was officially sworn in as FEMA administrator, by Department of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, in a ceremony this morning.
Welcome to FEMA!
FEMA’s mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from and mitigate all hazards.
Official Press Release can be found here HQ-17-033.
| 17-001: A Shake That Never Happened | |
| Agency: US Geological Survey (USGS) | Topic(s): Error message / human error |
| Date: 06-23-17 | Platform: Twitter/Email |
Sometimes, US Geological Survey (USGS) computers have 6.8 sized hiccups which automatically pushed out info this past Wednesday. This caused serious concern as numerous Emergency Management professionals and PIOs desperately searched to verify information on any earthquake in California. None was to be found on Wednesday June 21, 2017.
As you can see, the date listed in the email notification isn’t consistent with Wednesday’s date as well as the time stamp of publication.

Even worse was the 140-character tweet with even less text/info that initially went out to their 679K followers (@USGS). With the magnitude and epicenter location in a well populated area (Santa Barbara CA), it is crucial that we have multiple sources to verify critical information.
As humans, our attention span has shortened. (SQUIRREL!) Likely thousands misread the initial date/time listed on the email. Even less took the time to click the link in the tweet.
USGS noticed the error and posted this explanation of the errand info. Emails were sent to explain the deleted event.

Obviously more than 140 characters, they screen shot a typed response and posted the image to twitter referencing their errant tweet. The USGS used this tactic to get more information and characters into an otherwise short 140-character tweet.

Whether computer or human error, fessing up to an error on social media is embarrassing. However, the ramifications of arbitrarily deleting info without prior public notification will gander your agency a rash of criticism from the most loyal of followers. Government agencies should strive to foster trust and transparency with all of their constituency. Not to mention, deletion of your posts must match your agency’s policy/procedure or SOP/SOG.
Three important tips to consider if an agency posts something weird:
Mistakes happen, but how you recover will either make you a hero or a zero. Maximize your efforts on social media including screenshots of your more-than-140-character-response.
Time is short, so tweet / email correct stuff!
****Or download the one-pager here: AShakeThatNeverHappened-Safety-PIO-SM-17-001***
Maybe watch a quick video from USA Today
Um, did the USA Today just feature Jennifer and I in the USGS earthquake hiccup?

#famous
Here’s the link to the full animation: https://www.usatoday.com/videos/news/2017/06/22/fake-earthquake-shakes-up-internet/103098496/