Andrew Wilson was until recently Flu.gov’s new-media strategist. Several months ago, we described how he used social media to revamp the Flu.gov site when H1N1 hit and also to get information out to the public more efficiently. Now you can hear Wilson outline the process himself — and its effectiveness — in more detail in a final excerpt from FluPortal’s latest webinar. (Previous excerpts here, here, and here.)
Wilson explained that the online interest in H1N1 last spring was so significant (equal to or greater than current interest in Haiti) that it “posed lots of challenges [...] from a communications perspective.” It meant that Flu.gov had to reinvent itself and its outreach in the middle of the crisis.
Enter social media. Wilson used it to evaluate who was coming to the site and why. (Learn how he did it here.)
Armed with this information, Flu.gov redesigned its site, collaborated with other organizations working on flu, and improved its public outreach using social media like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Flu.gov’s blog. The social-media outreach, Wilson said, has been key for two reasons: it increased Flu.gov’s responsiveness to news; and it made the information “as shareable as possible.” The end result: more information to more niche audiences more quickly.
Wilson also used social media to continue improving Flu.gov. At one point, for example, he noticed chatter on Twitter about a Canadian H1N1 vaccine recall. He was then able to explain on Flu.gov — and back on its Twitter channel — that the recall didn’t affect the U.S.
Here’s Wilson’s presentation — complete with helpful and interesting slides:
The full webinar is available here.