Social Media's Role in Saving Lives

All of us at ePresence are greatly saddened by the tragic events in Florida and the loss of young people who will be deeply missed by their loved ones. Like many, we are in shock and disbelief that another school shooting has occurred. The grief that parents, friends, neighbors and educators are experiencing today is unimaginable. Our hearts go out to Parkland, FL. 

 ePresence works to make social media (SM) a better place for executives and families, and we are always analyzing methods and practices to harness the positive nature of SM. Today, we offer some guidance to our culture at large regarding ways to employ SM to stop tragedies like the one yesterday at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

Those who want to cause others harm will often first express that desire on SM. 

 These nefarious comments often go unnoticed or are too quickly disregarded. Why? It is quite easy to react to an abnormal post by characterizing the individual as someone who simply needs to be ignored or marginalized. Friends and family must be willing to discuss, monitor and report language that appears to point to harmful consequences. 

 When adults notice, or are informed of, language and posts that reveal someone with a potentially harmful goal, they must watch that account over the long run to ensure the young person is not showing a pattern of destruction. Adults are more effective at noticing when a young person needs assistance or to be reported since they better understand the difference between normal and abnormal behavior. 

 Adults can quickly analyze and flag content that appears dangerous. In this case, an adult did flag a comment the alleged shooter made on a YouTube channel last September. Unfortunately, law enforcement does not have the resources to continually monitor someone who posts this kind of content and is only reported once. 

Social Media offers many great benefits. 

 A few of them were seen during the tragedy – most notably, parents were connecting with their loved ones using SM and texting. Facebook’s feature “Crisis Response” gives friends and loved ones a portal to report on their safety in the event of a disaster and the failure of typical communications systems.

 Social media can be part of a healthy dialogue between adults and young people. Perhaps more importantly, parents and other adults monitoring SM can step in and force law enforcement to stay engaged when an aberrant pattern is observed. 

ePresence recommends that parents require their children to connect and stay connected to them on SM. Parents need to regularly review the feeds of their children. If a questionable post appears from a connection or friend, monitor that child’s account and be sure to report any child sharing dangerous content. 

 Some children are creating “Finsta” accounts--fake accounts that allow for communication with friends without parental oversight. These accounts are easily detected by looking at the user page and clicking the user name on the phone number of the young person. All the accounts being used on that phone will appear on that menu. 

The most effective deterrent to people with dangerous agendas is to have frequent conversations with children about SM and what they need to look for.

 If you are a parent, do you have a “house rule” regarding your ability to inspect your child’s phone at any time? Do you require that your child’s passcode be shared with you? Be sure to take these steps to protect your child.  Parents must use these steps to continually monitor the online lives of their children.

 Having an open line of communication with children will ensure they share posts that appear dangerous. Adults can then monitor and report as appropriate. Commitment to this concept is very important since multiple reports to law enforcement regarding one person may result in action taken prior to tragedy occurring.

 Young people will normally communicate in some way when they are in need. Today, SM is often the vehicle of choice. Monitoring posts will enable us to protect our communities and intervene with help as needed.

 ePresence will continue to pray for those injured or killed in the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Our hearts remain heavy at the senseless loss of life. We are thankful for the countless heroic first responders, educators, staff, and students that helped to prevent further loss of life in this tragedy. 

 Our company will also help by sharing our knowledge with the hope that we can make a difference by harnessing social media’s ability to reveal to us the people who need help and who are potentially dangerous to their communities. Social media is a powerful tool--parents and adults must stay engaged, constantly educating our young people about the importance of reporting posts and other material that appears outside the norm.

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Mark Galvin, CEO and Founder of ePresence, LLC, is a personal social media expert with 29 years of business management and hotel industry experience. He specializes in blending technology, marketing, networking and social branding. Over the course of his 29-year hospitality career, Mark focused on developing leaders, sales people and strategic visions.

 ePresence, LLC, manages social media for professionals who desire to enhance and strengthen their personal brands. Our ePublicists serve as personal information curators and can deliver additional solutions that increase opportunities and drive higher ROI for clients.