Archive for the 'Social Media' Category

Photo Sharing on Flickr

Published on 20 July 2010 in Emerging Technology, Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service, Projects, Social Media and Youth Engagement. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , .

Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service run several projects that engage and educate young people and provide an early intervention into anti-social behaviour. For example ‘LiveSafe’ is a programme aimed at educating primary school children in fire safety awareness and water safety. Not only do the LiveSafe team go into Primary schools during term time but they also run ‘treat days’ in non-term time as a reward for young people.

During event such as these our staff take photographs to remember the day and to promote their hard work. Very often the school, parents / carers and children also want these photographs to remember the day and to show others. In the past, staff have had to make a CD with all the photographs to send out to each school, proving costly and very time consuming, especially when some events involve a large number of schools. In order to overcome this, teams have started to use the photo sharing website; Flickr. Flickr allows our staff to create a group for the event and upload all the photos from the day, this folder can then be password protected. The schools, parents and young people can then log on to Flickr and enter the password given by our staff to download any of the photographs that they want – cost free! As long as every young person’s parent / carer has signed the consent form stating that images taken could be used on the internet.

This solution to a costly problem provides schools, parents, carers and young people a chance to obtain photographs of the day and share them with whoever they want.

Old Swan EARLY Update

Published on 14 July 2010 in Emerging Technology, Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service, Projects, Social Media and Youth Engagement. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

The Old Swan EARLY Team have now reached Week 10 of the 12 week Programme. The development each individual has made is astounding, and it is is excellent to see how they have each matured from the first day of the course.

This week the team are on individual work placements. Having spent the last ten weeks getting to know each other and forming a strong team, they are now out alone in a workplace.

The idea of doing this at the start of the course would have been inconceivable for many of the young people, however they have now all started their work experience and had excellent feedback so far.

The footage that I have collected is now mounting up ready to be cut and edited into a film to show at the presentation night in week twelve. I am being helped by a team member to sort through the footage we have, putting it into chronological order and deleting any unusable clips. The next step is to start editing and get ready for the big night!

CEOP urges Facebook to adopt Panic Button

Published on 13 April 2010 in E-Safety, Facebook, In the News, Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service and Social Media. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

The ongoing campaign for Facebook to adopt the CEOP Safety Button has been pursued further by Jim Gamble, CEOP director. This has come following the tragic death of 17 year old Ashleigh Hall who was murdered by a man she met on the social networking site. Jim Gamble met with Facebook creators in Washington to push the use of the Panic Button on every possible page.

As stated by the BBC: ‘Speaking after the four-hour meeting, Mr Gamble said Facebook was “one small step from doing the right thing” but had not agreed to his demands outright.’

It has however been recognised that they are looking to improve their position in child safety online. This will hopefully result in CEOP, Facebook and other social networking sites working together to tackle e-safety issues that give the internet a bad name.

In MFRS we have ensured that the correct e-safety provisions are in place by creating an E-Safety and an Acceptable Use Policy, as well as a Social Media Policy. There are five staff who have been trained to cascade ThinkUKnow training to all staff, particularly those who come into contact with children and young people who will then in turn be able to help, educate and advise Children and Young People about E-safety.

MFRS strongly believe that every effort must be made to safeguard children and young people when using new and emerging technologies, including social networking. Whilst we wish to make use of the potential engagement social networking enables with the public, we believe it is equally important to educate and inform on how to use the internet safely. By training the Youth Engagement staff to deliver the ThinkUKnow training, they will be able to use the presentation as part of the programmes that MFRS run such as Beacon, Prince’s Trust and EARLY. Furthermore they will be able to provide support for parents and carers and other staff.

Schools Parliament Consultation (2/2)

Published on 15 March 2010 in E-Safety, Emerging Technology, Facebook, Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service, Social Media and Youth Engagement. 0 Comments

Last week I and two colleagues attended the second phase of the Liverpool Schools Parliament Consultation which took place in Liverpool Town Hall. The group was split into three rooms each holding thirty young people to allow the consultation to be more personal. We decided to asking the young people leading questions to generate conversation around the topics we were particularly interested in to get real responses and spark ideas. We felt that giving out a questionnaire or list of set yes or no questions would not only make them bored, but would not capture the true views and opinions of the young people.

Although we were hoping to split the group into three and each tackle a different subject we unable to do this so the three of us stood at the font and tried to keep a conversation flowing throughout the group.

Our main focus was around what online resource the young people wanted and felt would be useful, along with what makes them visit websites and the features, design and content they expect.

Out of the thirty young people in the room, none of them had ever visited the MFRS website, meaning that they were not even aware that there was a Youth section. When asked what else they knew about MFRS, apart from putting out fires, the only responses were fitting fire alarms and dealing with road and traffic accidents… and of course the usual rescuing cats out of tree’s line!

We then spoke about what websites the group use now, due to the wide age range the answers varied, most popular answers included Facebook, MySpace, Bebo, Habbo Hotel, MiniClip, Wikipedia, Google and Bing. It was not surprising that the majority of their answers were social networking and free online gaming sites. Out of the thirty people only ten said they had a Facebook account, however this may be due to the age range of the group as others said they do use Habbo Hotel and Bebo, social networking sites aimed at younger children. All the CYP use MSN and some use MSN and Twitter. Interestingly, half of the group said they had covered e-safety in school but only some of them had changed their security settings after, others kept their profiles, including details and photographs, open not thinking they would be at risk. The top reason for using the internet was for chat and if they needed information the first place they would go is Wikipedia or a search engine such as Google or Bing.

Having got an idea of what resource the CYP are already using and how they spend their time on the internet we channelled in to what they believe we could do. We used A3 coloured screenshots to show them our website and the current ‘Youth’ page and also some examples of other websites aged at CYP including the BBC Bitesize and ThinkuKnow website. They liked the idea of the website being split up into age specific sections similar to the ThinkUKnow website for example Primary Schools (under 11’s), 11-15, and 16+. For the younger members of the group said that they are attracted to brighter colours and cartoons and characters. The older members said that they prefer more statistics and facts. The entire group however said that they would want interactive games linking to fire safety messages but that were fun.

It was suggested that unless there was a reason for them to visit the website they would not think to go, therefore it should be linked in with their curriculum, possibility PSHE lessons. This could cover fire safety messages and information of what the MFRS does. The most popular resources that the CYP suggested were virtual tours of Fire Stations and other areas of MFRS, detailed staff roles, careers information (not just fire-fighters), fire fighting games, statistics and case studies, live chat to staff, online application forms and information about activities open to them. They also talked about discussion boards where they could post up information or queries however when we spoke about this further they suggested that using Facebook for this would be better than trying to re-invent it. We should also make sure that pages are linked to other useful sites such as Connexions and schools and they are linked to us.

The consultation was invaluable and has given us a lot to think. It was excellent to see the CYP thinking out loud and watching how different ideas linked and led onto others. Although having a wide age range there meant it was hard to be specific about certain points it was extremely useful to see how the needs and opinions varied so much from those aged 11 to those aged 16.

Street Based Teams

Published on 10 March 2010 in Emerging Technology, Facebook, Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service, Social Media and Youth Engagement. 0 Comments

MF&RS run a Street Based Team Project. This team engages with Young People in Liverpool signposting them to support/advisory and diversionary activities available within the community. They are looking for new ways to engage and inform the young people about the activities that are put in place, for example diversionary events around and on Bonfire Night. Having another form of engagement will allow the workers to continue supporting the Young People they meet after they have left the area and allows the Young People to contact the workers. This may be particularly useful if a Young Person does not feel comfortable asking the workers about an activity they are interested in, in front of their peers.

After meeting with the Project Coordinator we discussed using social media to connect with the Young People before, during and after the Street Based Team has been in the various areas. After hearing about the Police Officers using Twitter to keep their communities up to date with where they are patrolling and any important happenings or events, the team are keen to do something simular, inspired by the success of the Police. Using an instant feed such as Twitter or Facebook (or both!) will allow the workers to update the communities they are in about where they are, what they are doing and details of any activities or events or any safety messages or warnings.

Other ideas that we discussed included Bluetooth marketing. This is when a device pushes out Bluetooth messages to any mobile phone which has their Bluetooth enabled. The message can be text, images, video or audio. This has become a popular method of advertising on the high street, one example includes the public receiving a Bluetooth message when they walked near Pizza Hut, and the message would then enable them to receive a discount or an offer. Devices are also being used in combination with billboard advertising. With regards to the Street Based Teams, we discussed using these transmitters to send out messages to Young People when out on patrol to give out safety messages or details on where the team is or where an event is. They could be used during events as part of a game or offer incentives to help engagement with the Young People. There are endless scenarios where a transmitter could be used to push out messages containing various content to the public.

Schools Parliament Consultation (1/2)

Published on 5 March 2010 in E-Safety, Emerging Technology, Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service, Social Media and Youth Engagement. 0 Comments

Yesterday I attended the first of two consultation events with the Schools Parliament. 120 Children and Young People from Primary Schools around Liverpool came to the Town Hall to consult with myself and other organisations about health and safety.

Other delegates were from Liverpool Primary Care Trust, talking about obesity, Liverpool Safeguarding Board, talking mainly about bullying, and LifeStyles, talking about the free sports and activities for children around Liverpool. I focused my session on how MFRS can engage with young people through technology. This included giving out Fire Safety messages, allowing direct contact between us and them for queries and questions, giving out news and updates and informing CYP about the Fire and Rescue Service.

Only having 10-15 minutes I decided that the best strategy would be to ask the group a series of questions, some that everyone answers so I could get a percentage and some more specific where I would ask a selection of children their answers. I found that this worked well and despite the large group and small time frame I gained some valuable information that will help to develop our online resources and develop future initiatives.

Some of answers that stood involved all of the children having access to the internet in their houses and a shocking 83% had access in their bedrooms via various sources ranging from their televisions to wireless laptops. Even more surprisingly every single person put their hand-up when asked if they had Facebook; the maximum age these children could have been in 11 and the minimum age for Facebook is 13.

All the participants enjoy using the internet and especially playing games on the internet where they can chat to other people, when asked about which games they play popular responses were ‘Club Penguin’, ‘Habbo Hotel’ and even ‘Call of Duty’ – a war game which is rated an 18.

When asked about E-Safety a small number of the young people said they had learnt about E-Safety in school, I found this extremely surprising considering it was Safer Internet Day last month. When I enquired what they had learnt, only a couple raised their hands and were unsure about exact details.

Furthermore, in one of the other talks, one child even suggested that there should be a ‘Panic Button’ for children so that they can alert someone when they feel scared, bullied or unsure, they also suggested that there should be a way for parents to restrict what websites they have access to. One of the suggestions for a resource was a site where they could learn about E-Safety. All of these things exist and have been highly publicised by CEOP. I found it surprising that the children weren’t even aware of these resources and therefore parents were also not aware.

Their lack of knowledge about E-Safety and the resources that are already available for them together with their expansive experience on the internet; using social networking and games that open them up to the world from their bedrooms really opened my eyes to the work that still needs to be done on E-Safety.

Using these results and the information that I get from the consultation with secondary schools next week I plan to put an action plan in place to educate parents, carers, teacher and children and young people about safeguarding on the internet and the importance in doing so.

MF&RS on Facebook

Published on 19 January 2010 in Facebook, Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service, Social Media and Youth Engagement. 0 Comments

Following the meeting with Steve Haw from Formby, I met with the Publicity Officer, Communications Officer, New Media Manager and ICT Infrastructure Manager about using Facebook within MF&RS.

Straight away we were informed that allowing every station access to Facebook regularly would not be possible at this time, this is due to the large amount of bandwidth Facebook takes up due to the media content (videos / photos / applications, etc), this may have a detrimental effect on other core functions that requires bandwidth. This however is subject to change in the future, opening up new opportunities.

For the time being, we discussed opening up a Facebook Page for Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service. The page would inform the public about news and events, as well as issue safety advice and useful contact details. It would also enable the public to ask the questions directly and receive a personal response.

Before setting up the group, a Social Media Policy must be in place to safeguard and inform staff on the correct procedures.

Social Media Stations

Published on 13 January 2010 in Facebook, Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service and Social Media. 0 Comments

Yesterday I went to visit Formby Community Fire Station where I was met by Steve Haw and his team.

Like a lot of people Steve has noticed how Facebook has evolved and become extremely popular, not just for personal use, but also professional. He wants to get on board and take advantage of Facebook whilst it is free and so popular.

Together with the Fire Fighters on duty we had a discussion about how Facebook could be utilised to MF&RS advantage. We agreed that each station should have its own Facebook public page. This would allow members of the public with Facebook profiles to ‘become a fan’ of their local station. On the page the Fire Fighters would keep the public updated with news, events, what is going on in the area, promotion for community events such as car washes, along with a number of others things.

The information that can be put onto the page is endless from competitions to contact details for a range of service. The opportunities that could be created from utilising this service are numerous, such as allowing the community to ask location specific questions to the Fire Service and allowing each station to provide its own response. Not only this but it would allow the station to communicate with other local businesses improving relationships and service for the public.

I could conduct research on whether this would work or not for the next year, however the only real way we can find out is to ‘just do it!!’

As Steve rightly stated, this is the time to do it while Facebook is so popular and free!

Formby Fire Station

Happy New Year!

Published on 4 January 2010 in E-Safety and Social Media. 0 Comments

2010 has arrived and with it a large amount of children and young people are online!

Christmas brought presents and this year among the most popular presents were net-books, laptops, games consoles and mobile phone; all giving their owner access the world wide web.

Children as young as 5 have been given netbooks from Father Christas, allowing them to borwse the web anywhere they want at any time they want; in their bedrooms, at their friends house, in the shopping centre… the list goes on.

Although I believe that it is excellent that young people are becoming familiar and confident using technology to enhance their lives, I am worried about the lack of knowledge parents have surrounding e-safety and just how accessible the Internet is.

As we approach Safer Internet Day in Febuary I aim to find out what parents know, what they want to know and what they should know. Breaking down the knowledge barriers between adults and young people will help both sides understand why the other is so interested in what they are doing and increase safety starting from a young age.

3/4 children admit secretly visiting social networking sites without their parents knowledge

Published on 18 December 2009 in E-Safety, Facebook, In the News and Social Media. 0 Comments

According to research by Professor Tanya Byron, clinical psychologist and television presenter, three quarters of children are visiting social networking sites in secret without their parents knowledge. In fact her research shows that a massive 90% of parents believed they had banned their children from sites such as Facebook and Bebo, but unbeknown to them, their children were still using the sites. A similar percentage allowed their children to use social networking unsupervised.

Click here to read the full article from the Telegraph.

This research highlights the key issues surrounding social networking. The answer is not to ban children from using these sites, but in fact to embrace it and bridge the gap between your knowledge and theirs.

  • Set up the computer in a family room where you can always see what is on the screen.
  • Sit down with your children and set up social networking sites properly – using all the security features.
  • Familiarise yourself with it so you know exactly what is on there and how to change it.
  • Talk about it with your children so that they do not feel embarrassed or scared when they have a question or need advice.

Following simple steps like this will bridge the gap and stop children from sneaking onto sites such as Facebook and Bebo, and using them unsafely, putting themselves in danger.