A simple image with the wording “Do your teenagers sleep with their mobile phones under their pillow?” has reached over 575,000 people on Facebook.
Gordon Fire Brigade posted the image on its community facing Facebook page back on 8 August this year and were amazed at how share-crazy the online community became. The post was eventually shared 11,400 times on the social media platform.
The small brigade east of Ballarat in CFA’s District 15 has a population of around 1,300. The brigade launched their Facebook in late 2014 and had been pretty pleased with around 620 page likes. Given the average Facebook post on the page reaches between 400 and 2,000 people they were pretty blown away by the impact of this particular image.
Brigade - Community Safety Coordinator and Facebook page administrator Diane Lawson said, “It is obviously an image that resonated with a lot of parents, as the bulk of the comments are parents tagging their kids. It is pretty funny to read through some of the kids comments back to their parents. Most of which fall into the ‘no mum/dad I don't do that’ or naming and shaming a sibling that does.
“It was a big impact and I’m not sure if we will be able to top that kind of post reach again.”
“It just goes to show the power of social media and how the content and context of your posts can reach a huge audience,” said Diane.
While the specific cause of home fire due to mobile phone batteries overheating may not be common, it’s certainly a risk CFA is starting to monitor and one that could be quite dangerous. You can check the common causes of fire in the home on the CFA website here.
For more information on running a Facebook page for your brigade email Ryan Vanderhorst: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Author: Jamie Devenish