Before

• Use social media regularly to become proficient and to understand its strengths and limitations.
• Use analytics to determine which social media method is best to reach your target audience.
• Update your social media platforms to establish a following.
• Identify credible contributors.

During

• Know what you can release and when you can release it.
• Assess public opinion to gauge your handling of the event.
• Update platforms constantly with key messages, news releases, fact sheets, links to other credible sites, reviews of past cases, images, videos, etc.

After

• Evaluate public comments: what the public is saying about how you handled the event.
• Determine public opinion and compare it to media coverage.
• Communicate via social media to correct/counter misinformation and persistent rumors.

Source: Adam Wine, U.S. Coast Guard, Chief of Public Affairs Programs Branch