A look at social media, Sandy and that bridge rumor

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Mike Williams of DelDOT, Tom Byrne of WDDE, Kelly Bachman of Gov. Markell’s office, and Holly Norton of the News Journal. Photo by Ken Grant.

Media and government representatives took a look back at Superstorm Sandy and how social media was used to communicate information and deal with the rumor of  problems with the Indian River Bridge.

Speaking  at a meeting of the Delaware Social Media Club in Newark,  Holly Norton, community engagement editor  for  The News Journal,  said the rumor took root from an individual known to make such posts.

The News Journal  staff  quickly determined   the  rumor was false, since a reporter was  near the bridge, but the posting persisted, driven by a photograph that was cropped in a way that suggested that the new bridge  was in trouble.

Mike Williams, a spokesman for the Delaware Department of  Transportation,  said  the  incident did create a brief  firestorm. On the plus side, no similar reports emerged during a storm where many many images were altered and posted.

DelDOT did handle an inquiry about whether  Delaware’s large poultry was in danger of being devastated by the storm. As far as can be determined, no chicken houses were lost in the storm.

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Kelly Bachman, who handles social media in the Delaware governor’s office, had taken a break from continuously monitoring and answering Facebook and Twitter  traffic and  missed the photo dust-up. The state came up with the Twitter  hash tag #sandyde and publicized the decision.  Hash tags are used  to track posts or tweets of 140 characters or less.

“They never asked me to take another break,” she said. Bachman, who stayed home during the storm had a portable generator and a wireless hotspot should broadband internet go down.

It was the first storm for new Delaware public radio station, WDDE. News Director Tom Byrne said the station used social media  to provide information not covered in newscasts.

The station had previous experience in web an social media, operating,  the Delaware First Media website. Delaware First offers  in-depth online stories, but had sat out on breaking coverage of the last big storm, Hurricane Irene.

The state’s small size aided the process of  releasing information. While DelDOT  controls   more than 90 percent of  Delaware’s roads, in Pennsylvania, the Department of Transportation handles the interstate system, with cities and other governmental units handling other roads and information duties.

Asked about areas of improvement in the state’s social media strategy, Bachman said plans call for more video and coverage as a way to keep residents informed.

Norton of the News Journal noted that a photo of a partly submerged State Police cruiser, generated a large number of views. – Doug Rainey

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