Inside Red Cross Social Media Command Center
New Digital Operations Center will help the American Red Cross respond better to disasters. Dell's social command center served as the model.
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When might you need social media most? The day that a hurricane or tornado barrels through your neighborhood might be one powerful example. The American Red Cross believes that social media will play a growing role in disaster response, by providing real-time information and giving relief workers a direct line to affected individuals.
Even before the Red Cross' new Digital Operations Center officially opened on March 7, Red Cross officials used the center to reach out to individuals located in the path of danger. On March 2, dozens of tornadoes ripped through a 10-state region from Mississippi to Ohio, leaving 39 dead and thousands homeless, according to reports.
The center is part of an emerging trend of social media command centers that enable organizations to track and respond to public conversations about their efforts, their brands, and other topics of interest. Other examples of social media command centers include those run by Dell, Gatorade, one at this year's Super Bowl, and one operated by Intel at the Consumer Electronics Show.
Dell was a major partner in helping to launch the Red Cross' new center. In fact, the center is modeled after Dell's own Social Media Listening Center, launched in late 2010. Dell approached the Red Cross with the idea for the center, and has provided funding and equipment to get the effort off of the ground. Clemson University has also launched a Dell-based social media command center to provide hands-on experience to undergraduate students, as well as to facilitate graduate research and the university's business operations.
The Digital Command Center uses Salesforce.com's Radian6 social monitoring service, which Salesforce says is used by more than half of Fortune 100 companies. Radian6 pulls in social media content from platforms including Twitter, Facebook, and blogs, aggregates that data, and analyzes it. The Radian6 "engagement console" displays social media posts of interest to those working at the center.
Moving forward, the Red Cross plans to share information with other organizations, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and with volunteers in the field. For now, the effort is just getting started.
In the Digital Operations Center, designed to be staffed by up to three people, a wall of six screens displays global social media trends and popular posts.
Salesforce.com's Radian6 engagement console bears a resemblance to social media clients like TweetDeck. Here, the console shows posts by people seeking family members, posts about first aid, and posts offering emotional support to those in need.
The new social command post is housed in the American Red Cross' Disaster Operations Center at Red Cross headquarters in Washington, D.C.--the organization's nerve center for disaster response. Here, representatives from the Red Cross, Dell, the Department of State, crowdsourcing platform Ushahidi, and O'Reilly Media take part in a panel discussion at the unveiling of the social media command center.
Dell CEO Michael Dell has been a key supporter of the effort. His company's own social media command center was the model for the Red Cross center. In similar fashion, Dell said he hopes that the Red Cross' work can serve as a model for other organizations.
Dell CEO Michael Dell, Red Cross president and CEO Gail McGovern, and Red Cross director of social engagement Wendy Harman check out the social media buzz from the early-March Midwest tornadoes on the Radian6 console.
The Community Dashboard, one of six screens on the wall of the Digital Operations Center, shows avatars of differing sizes based on how active users are in discussing topics. Here, the screen reflects social media activity around the Midwest tornadoes.
The Heat Map Dashboard, another one of the six screens on the Digital Operations Center wall, shows where social media posts about the Midwest tornadoes originated around the world.
The Heat Map Dashboard, another one of the six screens on the Digital Operations Center wall, shows where social media posts about the Midwest tornadoes originated around the world.
When might you need social media most? The day that a hurricane or tornado barrels through your neighborhood might be one powerful example. The American Red Cross believes that social media will play a growing role in disaster response, by providing real-time information and giving relief workers a direct line to affected individuals.
Even before the Red Cross' new Digital Operations Center officially opened on March 7, Red Cross officials used the center to reach out to individuals located in the path of danger. On March 2, dozens of tornadoes ripped through a 10-state region from Mississippi to Ohio, leaving 39 dead and thousands homeless, according to reports.
The center is part of an emerging trend of social media command centers that enable organizations to track and respond to public conversations about their efforts, their brands, and other topics of interest. Other examples of social media command centers include those run by Dell, Gatorade, one at this year's Super Bowl, and one operated by Intel at the Consumer Electronics Show.
Dell was a major partner in helping to launch the Red Cross' new center. In fact, the center is modeled after Dell's own Social Media Listening Center, launched in late 2010. Dell approached the Red Cross with the idea for the center, and has provided funding and equipment to get the effort off of the ground. Clemson University has also launched a Dell-based social media command center to provide hands-on experience to undergraduate students, as well as to facilitate graduate research and the university's business operations.
The Digital Command Center uses Salesforce.com's Radian6 social monitoring service, which Salesforce says is used by more than half of Fortune 100 companies. Radian6 pulls in social media content from platforms including Twitter, Facebook, and blogs, aggregates that data, and analyzes it. The Radian6 "engagement console" displays social media posts of interest to those working at the center.
Moving forward, the Red Cross plans to share information with other organizations, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and with volunteers in the field. For now, the effort is just getting started.
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