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Setting up a Social Media Program
A Guide to Setting Up a Social Media Program for Water
Utilities
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June 2022
EPA-817-B-22-004
U.S. EPA, Office of Groundwater and Drinking Water
Water Security Division
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Disclaimer
The Water Security Division of the Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water has reviewed and approved this guidance document for
publication. This document is intended for drinking water utilities who use social media
This guidance is new. It does not modify or replace any previous EPA guidance documents. This guidance document is intended for use by
public water systems to help manage water quality issues via social media. This document does not impose legally binding requirements on
any party. The information in this document is intended solely to recommend or suggest and does not imply any requirements. Neither the
U.S. Government nor any of its employees, contractors or their employees make any warranty, expressed or implied, or assumes any legal
liability or responsibility for any third party's use of any information, product or process discussed in this document, or represents that its
use by such party would not infringe on privately owned rights. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute
endorsement or recommendation for use.
Questions concerning this document should be addressed to WSD-Outreach@epa.gov or Steve Allgeier at Allgeier.Steve(5)epa.gov.
The document was developed by EPA's Water Security Division, with additional support provided under EPA contract EP-C-15-022.
Nelson Mix, EPA, Water Security Division (retired)
Steve Allgeier, EPA, Water Security Division
Scott Teper, Cadmus Group
Mackenzie Dalton Webber, Cadmus Group
Juliana Urrego, Cadmus Group
Kyrien Edwards, Cadmus Group
Alex Taylor, Cadmus Group
Peer review of this document was provided by the following individuals:
Joseph J Szafran III, American Water
John Lisle, DC Water
Christina Waddington, EPA
Cheyenne Mathews, EPA
Acknowledgments
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Introduction to Social Media for Water Utilities
Social media has become ubiquitous in our daily life. Many entities utilize social media as a tool to understand customer experience, manage
emergencies, and increase security. More specifically, water utilities can employ social media as an additional resource to reach customers,
understand customer complaints, and help manage water quality issues. Social media is also useful for communicating with customers in case of
an interruption in service.
EPA has developed two guidance documents to assist water utilities in using social media as a Customer Complaint Surveillance (CCS) resource.
This document introduces important terminology and concepts related to social media, including basic information about setting up a social
media program, how to use different social media platforms, and useful techniques for engaging with customers.
Those familiar with establishing or working in social media programs are encouraged to skip ahead to the subsequent "Using Social Media to
Help Manage Water Quality Issues" Guidance Document, which focuses on techniques for utilizing social media as a customer complaint
resource.
To skip to the "Using Social Media to Help Manage Water
Quality Issues" Guidance Document, click the document icon.
Overview
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Overview of Social Media Platforms and Terminology
This section contains a brief introduction to common social media platforms, terminology, and examples that are useful
for using social media to help manage customer complaints.
Social Media Platforms
Twitter: A micro-blogging social network providing users with a platform for posting short text messages called tweets, which may
include web links, pictures, and videos. Twitter is useful for quick updates and messages due to tweets having a short character
limit.
Facebook: A social network allowing individuals and organizations to post text, video, pictures, and links to web content. This posted
content comprises the profile of an individual or organization, with some sections of the profile being permanent while others
fluctuate. Information about the individual can be shared such as location-based information when this feature is enabled. Users
can connect directly via private message.
Nextdoor: A neighborhood-based platform, where groups can discuss and post content most relevant to their local community,
which is useful for targeted messaging to a specific neighborhood. According to Nextdoor, neighborhoods typically contain 750-
1,000 households, however all are unique (Nextdoor, n.d.). Some utilities may qualify for access through Nextdoor's service
provider accounts.
Other Supplemental Platforms: There are several other media content sharing and social network platforms such as YouTube,
TikTok, Linkedln, and Instagram that are useful to supplement social media engagement on Twitter, Facebook, and Nextdoor;
however, these are not as common for listening for water quality complaints as customers are less likely to post on these platforms
on a daily basis about water quality issues.
All of these social media platforms are web- and app-based, making them accessible to anyone with a computer or smartphone. The
availability of these platforms is a key reason why social media can be a useful resource for water quality complaints.
Platform
Type
Primary Purpose
Post Character Limit
Strengths
Twitter
Social Network
Post short messages with
embedded media
280
Easy two-way communication
between utility and customer
Facebook
Social Network
Post long messages with
embedded media
63,000
Higher level of detail in posts
Nextdoor
Community-Based
Network
Discuss local issues with
community
N/A
Geographic and Neighborhood
based
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Social Media Terminology
General Terminology:
Profile: This is a publicly facing feed of all public posts and activities. As your utility posts
more, your profile will act as an archive where the account manager can view previous posts.
Newsfeed: This is a private, running feed that shows recent posts and activity from all the
organizations and individuals that your utility follows. A utility can use their newsfeed to gain
information about news related to them, as well as engage with the community by liking
posts.
Communication Terminology:
Handle: This is similar to a username on other platforms, it appears after the sign.
Individuals can tag specific people or organizations by using their handle in a public post.
Tag: This is used to direct a public post to a specific person, page, or group. One can tag a
person or organization by including the other person's handle in a post.
Direct Message (DM): This is a private form of communication that can be used between
individuals and organizations.
Geotag: This is used by posters to include and/or identify a location when creating a post.
Geolocation capability depends on the user's privacy settings, not the social media platform
used; some users allow their posts to be geotagged, while others may not.
Hashtag: This is used on almost all social media platforms as a metadata tag. It can be useful
to track posts that use the same hashtag; users are able to search a particular hashtag to see
all related content. It appears after the "#" sign and has no spaces.
Engagement Terminology:
Embedded Media: Photos, videos, and links can be included in posts. Posts with embedded media are more popular than text posts.
Like: Individuals and organizations are able to like other's posts. This is similar to "up voting" content on other sites. It is useful to
increase likes on your posts as popular posts are likely to reach more people.
Share: A customer can share a link to a post or video to invite another user to view the content. It is useful to encourage customers
to share your posts with their followers to increase your reach.
Follow: A customer can follow your utility to see your updates directly on their newsfeed. This is similar to subscribing on other sites.
For the utility, it is important to increase followers to quickly reach more customers for engagement.
Impressions: This is a metric that some social media management tools use to get a holistic view of your reach by adding up all of
your page views, likes, comments, shares, and posts.
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What is your handle vs. name?
Your handle is unique to you, while
your name on social media does not
have to be unique to you. For
example, there is no limit to the
number of Facebook accounts that
have "John Smith" as the name.
However, there can only be one
handle "@JohnSmith" on Facebook.
What is SMS vs. Direct Message?
Short Message Service (SMS) is a text
message over a cell tower using a
phone. Direct Message is a private
message over the internet, typically
using a social media platform.
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Setting Up
Management
Buy-in
Roles &
Responsibilities
Best Practices
Identify Need for Social Media
Emergency Management Operations
Setting Up a Social Media Program
This section includes details on creating your own social media program including achieving management buy-in, which
is important to ensure the long-term success of your program. It also includes best practices for running your social
media program.
Achieving Management Buy-In
Creating a social media program can provide value to a utility. Customers are
increasingly more likely to report complaints via social media rather than traditional
communication methods such as phone call or email. It is faster and more convenient
for a customer to send a tweet or post on Facebook rather than calling to report an
issue. A social media program for customer complaints and communication can help
identify water quality issues quicker and improve response times to customers. If
utilities are proactive and communicative on social media before, during, and after a
crisis or outage, this can help reduce confusion, misinformation, and harm to the
utility's reputation (AWWA, 2019). Conveying this message to leadership can help
achieve buy-in.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology (S&T)
Directorate has created a Social Media Emergency Management Guidance. This
guidance includes templates to help users build a social media business case, develop
a social media plan, and build a digital volunteer program, if desired. Water utilities
can complete the "Building a Social Media Business Case" template, which is useful to
present to management to achieve buy-in. The template helps the user plan
resources, time, and money needed to create a social media program.
Present Social Media
Business Case to Leadership
Read Business Case
Template Guidance
Flow chart for building a business case for social
media. Source: Social Media Emergency
Management Guidance (DHS' S&T, n.d.)
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Setting Up
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Roles &
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U.S. EPA Water ฉ
@EPAwater
Work for a drinking water or wastewater utility? You
can use EPA's Resilient Strategies Guide to:
Account Management Best Practices
Here are some best practices when managing the social media accounts:
Use relevant platforms: Utilize popular, relevant, and searchable social media platforms. Members of an EPA utility forum
comprised of social media experts at drinking water utilities use social media platforms to reach a large audience such as Twitter,
Facebook, and Nextdoor. Please note social media platforms and user preferences are constantly changing; therefore, for a
successful social media program it is important to adapt to platforms that the user base is utilizing. For each platform, follow
directions on their website to create a new business or service provider account.
Try to Be consistent: Ensure that all platforms have the same name and the same general email linked to the account (e.g. [Utility
Name] and CustomerService@[UtilityName].org). It is not recommended that the
social media account be linked to an individual's email address due to staff
turnover and scheduling.
Coordinate securely: Be sure to create secure passwords and document the
account email and password for each platform. This information can be shared in
a secure manner with members of the social media team. Additionally, some
third-party tools provide single sign-on (SSO) enabling secure authentication
across multiple platforms with one set of credentials.
Manage expectations: If social media will not be managed 24/7 indicate this on
the profile and include the water utility's phone number for afterhours
communication or direct customers to the utility's preferred method for
reporting water quality concerns.
Post regularly to expand reach: Posts can be informational, fun, or a mixture of
both. If the utility posts about outreach events, interested community members
can share and like the posts, thereby increasing public reach and creating
community engagement. See the EPA's Twitter post on Resilient Strategies for
Water Utilities. Posting regular updates like this helps to engage and inform
customers. Please note posting frequency varies according to the level of
engagement for each platform.
Use hashtags to group posts: When creating dialogue with community members,
use hashtags to group posts of similar topics. For example, if a utility has an
awareness campaign or event, using hashtags allows all the posts to be
searchable and linked together. Common hashtags can be used for promotional events like #EarthDay, #ReduceReuseRecyc!e,
#WaterWeek, or #SaveWater. Additionally, if you have an ongoing construction project or emergency, hashtags like #WaterOutage
could be used.
4 Consider climate risks
4 Identify planning priorities
4 Find funding resources
Check it out:
U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION AGENCY
epa.gov
Resilient Strategies Guide for Water Utilities I US EPA
Resilient Strategies Guide, from EPA's Creating Resilient Water Utilities (CRWU),
provides information on strategies that address the long-term security at water...
10:30 AM - Dec 7, 2021 Salesforce - Social Studio
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Sharing Your
Social Media
Communicating
in a Crisis
Engaging on Social Media
This section covers information about engaging with customers, leveraging partners, and communicating during a crisis.
Sharing Your Social Media Information
V
Utilities can increase customer engagement by using social media to reach
more customers and thereby improve customer service. Sharing social
media contact information refers to advertising to customers that the utility
is present on social media and inviting customers to engage there. As
Section 3.1 of EPA's Designing CCS Document details, there are many
existing resources to share social media contact information with customers
including consumer confidence reports, direct emails, bill inserts, radio,
television, billboards, internet, and other social media sites (EPA, 2017).
Campaigns are a useful way to indicate that customers can use social media
to report water quality issues. Utilities may choose to educate customers
about reporting water quality concerns using social media by encouraging
customers to follow the utility social media account and tag the utility in
posts to alert the utility of concerns.
Additionally, it is useful to create partnerships with other existing social
media accounts in your community to increase engagement and customer
reach. For example, directly engaging with 311, emergency management,
news media, elected officials, and nearby utilities' social media accounts can
help connect your customers to you faster. Some community members may
not know who to report water quality issues to; therefore, leveraging
existing connections on social media can reduce confusion and improve
response times. This can be done by tagging other relevant social media
accounts in your posts and asking that they do the same.
Helpful Hashtags
Multiple San Francisco Bay Area water utilities worked
collectively to prepare and respond to a power safety
power shutoff (PSPS) on social media.
In 2019, the power utility PG&E announced a PSPS which
impacted counties in the Sierra Foothills and North
Bay. These caused pressure losses, boil water advisories,
reduction of water treatment, sewage back up, and
discharge of untreated sewage. To communicate the
risks to the water supply during the PSPS, water utilities in
the Bay Area used social media to alert customers.
On Twitter, local utilities used the hashtag "#PSPS" to
consolidate their posts and communicate information
about water supply, area closures, and emergency
response efforts. As a result, customers could search the
hashtag to receive the most up-to-date information. This
collaboration helped utilities reach a large audience and
increase preparedness across the Bay Area.
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Sharing Your
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Communicating in a Crisis on Social Media
In addition to locating water quality complaints, social media can be beneficial for
communication during a crisis. DHS' S&T Social Media Emergency Management
Guidance has useful tools for utilizing social media for crisis communication.
Keep in mind these best practices for social media crisis communication:
Be proactive: Establish a social media presence before a crisis, so customers
know to look to your account for updates. Additionally, establish a
consistent brand voice before a crisis so customers are familiar with
messaging formatting and styles. Being the expert and main source of
information about water outages can reduce fear and misinformation
during a crisis (AWWA, 2019).
Scale based on the incident: increase social media management capabilities
and staff during a crisis to prepare for a higher volume of incoming posts
(e.g., leverage the city's 311 center or train digital volunteers).
Be predictable and trustworthy: Post status updates regularly on social
media during crises. Being forthcoming with information during a crisis can
reduce the number of incoming complaints.
Balance damage control with awareness: If possible, acknowledge and
respond to all relevant posts during crises. Additionally, publicly respond to
negative comments and ensure the tone of the response is not negative or
defensive. Correct misinformation and take conversations off-line as
needed.
Here are some helpful crisis communication resources:
EPA's Water Utility Communication During Emergency Response
EPA's Guidance for Responding to Drinking Water Contamination Incidents
Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) IS-42.A Training
Center for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Drinking Water Advisory
Communication Toolbox
FEMA's National Incident Management System
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Winter Weather
Austin Water's social media personnel listened and
responded to the impacts of an extreme weather
event using social media and tools.
In 2021, Winter Storm Uri affected parts of Texas,
including the Austin metropolitan area serviced by
Austin Water. As a result of the storm, Austin Water
faced significant service impacts, including a boil
water notice due to pressure loss. Throughout the
event, Austin Water used social media (Twitter and
Facebook) to keep customers informed of ongoing
changes. Austin Water's Operation Center monitored
and managed social media posts using Hootsuite, a
social media management platform.
Austin Water followed the process of the Incident
Command System (ICS) as part of the National
Incident Management System (NIMS) laid out by
FEMA. The ICS is a guidance for public agencies to
manage emergencies and includes roles and
responsibilities for handling public information.
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Resources
Resources
This contains all the relevant resources.
American Water Works Association (AWWA). (2019). Trending in an Instant: A
Risk Communication Guide for Utilities.
CDC. (2021). Drinking Water Advisory Communication Toolbox.
https://www.cdc.gov/heaithvwater/emergencv/dwa-comm-toolbox/index.html
DHS S&T. (n.d.). Social Media Emergency Management Guidance Tool.
https://www.dhs.gov/sites/defauit/fiies/pubiications/sociai media emergency management guid
ance tool fact sheet 092319.pdf
DHS. (2008). National Incident Management System.
https://www.fema.gov/pdf/emergencv/nims/NIMS core.pdf
EPA. (2017). Designing Customer Complaint Surveillance.
https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2018-
02/documents/customer complaint surveillance design guidance.pdf
EPA. (2018). Guidance for Responding to Drinking Water Contamination Incidents.
https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2018-
12/documents/responding to dw contamination incidents.pdf
EPA. (n.d.). Water Utility Communication During Emergency Response.
https://www.epa.gov/waterutilitvresponse/water-utilitv-comniunication-during-emergencv-
response
FEMA. (2021). IS-42.A:Sociai Media in Emergency Management.
https://training.fema.gov/is/courseoverview.aspx?code=is-42.a
Water Research Foundation (WRF). (2017). Social Media for Water Utilities. Project #4638.
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