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Almost a year ago, we started broadcasting live on Facebook. In that time, we learned a lot about what works and what doesn’t. As a result, we hosted Facebook Live events that were better scripted, tackled more complex topics, and most importantly, were more engaging to our audience.

We decided to try Facebook Live because it presented an opportunity to learn and interact with our audience in real time. It was a way to put a human face on a web platform and fulfill our agency’s goal to serve the public.

This event was originally posted on DigitalGov University on January 9, 2018.

Hurricane Maria made landfall on September 20, 2017, devastating Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. These events, coupled with hurricanes Harvey and Irma, and wildfires in California, made five simultaneous natural disasters that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) would need to address. Within a few weeks, thousands of federal volunteers from across the country were deployed to the Joint Field Office (JFO) in San Juan.

When Hurricane Maria slammed into Puerto Rico, it caused a total collapse of the traditional communication infrastructure. People on the island turned to radio and social media as a lifeline. Family members on the mainland searched for information they could easily share via text.

To communicate vital, life-saving information, we worked with social media influencers to amplify the messages of subject matter experts from FEMA and the National Weather Service. This helped ensure that critical information reached the people who needed it most.