The Fire Department Of New York is considered the largest combined Fire and EMS Service in the world. Undoubtedly being the largest does not always equate to quality of service, but you may be hard pressed to find someone who thinks otherwise. You may also think that being the largest provider, and in a city that seems so progressively on the cutting edge as New York City, they would be a shining example of Social Media in action.

Wrong.

FDNY Hub Page

Their website is integrated within the NYC.gov site, features a nice clean design and has had some stories updated on their page for the last two-three months on a somewhat regular basis.

Where it fails: There is no e-mail subscription option or RSS Feed option for the articles on the page

FDNY Official Facebook Page

So when you do a search of Facebook for “FDNY“, this is the first page that comes up:

Looks pretty nice right? With over 13,000 Fans that’s a pretty nice audience! There’s only one problem… it isn’t controlled by THE FDNY.

This is, according to the NYC Office of Emergency Management Facebook Page, the FDNY – The Official Fire Department, City of New York:

Have you ever seen such a barren wasteland? Amazingly, they still have over 8,000 Fans… but it isn’t like they are doing anything with that type of exposure. Considering this screenshot was taken on July 5, you would have expected at least a fireworks PSA or something… but there is nothing.

These are the pages a Facebook User sees when they search the term “FDNY” on Facebook.

The actual Official Page is ranked 6th, and two official imitators rank as #1 and #2 in the search results. So when a Facebook user does a search for FDNY, they become fans of the imitator instead. This makes me wonder just how many FDNY EMTs, Paramedics, and Firefighters are fans of the imitators?

As I previously mentioned, as per the Facebook FAQ, Facebook Fan Pages should only be established by official representative of that agency. The Facebook Group listings for the FDNY Emerald Society, FDNY EMS Retirees Association, and the FDNY TOP Class also are questionable entities. There is a second listing for the FDNY Emerald Society Pipes and Drums further down. While these pages are subsets of the greater whole they can still be a concern.

The fact that someone else has established a FDNY Fan Page that is both more popular and ranks higher in searches should not be taken lightly. Although I have seen no evidence of it, this person could easily initiate a scam and secure funds from unsuspecting fans for a service related cause.

If that did happen, it would be no one’s fault but FDNY’s own considering that they have an actual page and just have not taken the time to use it or ask Facebook to weed out the imposters. Considering that Facebook Chief Privacy Officer Chris Kelly helped launch the NYC OEM Page, I don’t think Facebook would give FDNY any problem with that simple request since it does also involve a probable Trademark Infringement issue.

Where it fails: Lack of content and the non-monitoring of impersonators leaves them with no presence to the 2 million New Yorkers who use Facebook to monitor activities in the city.

FDNY On Twitter

This is a screenshot of @FDNY on Twitter:

With only 13 updates (none for the year 2009) @FDNY still has 98 followers.

Where it fails: This is an opportunity that lays dormant and completely wasted considering Twitter has an estimated 24 million user base

Why This All Matters

When I see agencies such as the LAFD who have embraced the technology to better the lives of both those they serve and those who are Responders, I get a huge grin because I know that they get it. When I see an agency such as FDNY that buries their head in the proverbial sand to the revolution that is evolving around them, I just grimace because I know they may never get it. Of course the fact that FDNY is one of those agencies smarts a little more considering I live in New York City.

If you see no value in any of the other benefits of social media, stopping false representation should be reason enough to become involved. You wouldn’t allow someone to put your uniform on who is not a member of your service in the physical world, so why would you allow it in the virtual world?

If FDNY decides to get off their collective duff in the Social Media world I’m sure Brian Humphrey from LAFD would be more than willing to share his knowledge. Worst comes to worst… they could always just read my blog.

At least I have e-mail subscription and RSS Feed options.

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• New York City’s Office of Emergency Management Turns to Facebook (insidefacebook.com)
• FDNY Goes Multimedia (blogs.wsj.com)