Far more than at any other time firefighters are getting their messages out via Twitter and Facebook. A casual glance will reveal fire departments, PIO's and firefighters using Twitter and Facebook to discuss issues not found elsewhere, even in blogs. Traditional static websites are using Twitter to drive traffic and Facebook is ever more an influence each passing day. The question isn't who is on twitter or Facebook but who isn't and why aren't they? Posts of substantial length are often overlooked in mainstream blogs and though firefighters will often read an article they are also becoming consumers of the 140 character information delivery. The challenge is to fit information into that short space but content providers are successful at it. Feeds are also drastically changing how fire and EMS view information. One can use twitter or facebook to see information and then read the feed from the site without ever browsing over to a blog or static site. Most blogs provide feeds as a matter of course. This development alarms some bloggers because they fear a plunge in traffic. The fear is somewhat misplaced because people who read some blogs will visit no matter what but others will choose to avoid browsing through pages when they can have it delivered to their laptop or mobile phone.
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Firefighters Turning to Social Media
