JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Md. –
In an effort to get timely information directly to the men and women of Joint Base Andrews, 11th Wing/Joint Base commander Col. Ken Rizer is engaging the community through social media.
Colonel Rizer recognizes the shift in the communication model and has become an active member of the Facebook community. More recently, Colonel Rizer has started to use Twitter as method to communicate his message directly to the Team Andrews community.
"Social media is a great tool to connect people and share information instantly," said Colonel Rizer. "I want to be able to provide information to the men and women of Joint Base Andrews immediately and I think Twitter can help me do that."
Social media has become a staple in crisis communications. Most recently, the death of Osama Bin Laden, former Al Qaeda leader, was first reported on Twitter. By 11:45 p.m. on Sunday, May 1, shortly after President Barack Obama's speech, tweets were being sent out at an astonishing 5,008 tweets per second.
Twitter claims to have about 200 million users and when that number is combined that with the over 600 million active Facebook users, the number of persons utilizing these forms of social media is over 800 million ... and counting.
"Social media has really shown its value during times of crisis," said Colonel Rizer. "Twitter and Facebook can play a pivotal role in getting important facts and information out to our people quickly and efficiently in the event something goes wrong."
While social media's role in crisis communications is clear, Colonel Rizer's followers can also expect updates on subjects ranging from base closures and events, to information about his favorite NFL team, the Minnesota Vikings.
For those interested in obtaining the instant-information gratification that social media provides, follow Colonel Rizer on Twitter @ColRizer and find him on Facebook by searching "AndrewsCommander" as one word.
For more information on Twitter and to access Col. Rizer's Twitter account directly, visit http://twitter.com/?q=ColRizer#!/search