Social Media as a Disaster Management Tool
Social Media as a Disaster Management Tool
Submitted by Karen Purser on 17th March 2014
Following the release of the Queensland Floods Commission Inquiry Interim Report there was a lot of discussion in the media about the importance of social media in community engagement and resilience building. Councils and other agencies used SMS, Twitter, and Facebook updates to communicate directly to their communities, and receive information which they could verify and pass on to others.
Brisbane Council and the Queensland Police have both produced very good case studies outlining their use of social media during the 2011 floods, and the pitfalls and successes they experienced.
An interesting article on the way social media has been used for emergency management in America noted that "By sharing images, texting and tweeting, the public is already becoming part of a large response network, rather than remaining mere bystanders or casualties", noting that the extensive reach of social networks allows people who are recovering from disasters to rapidly connect with resources to obtain help.
Social media use during a crisis may be beneficial because:
- it's real time
- it connects you to relief agencies
- it connects you to emergency response professionals
- it lets emergency responders monitor actual conversations at the scene of the emergency in real time
- it provides numerous, real-time reports on the effects of the emergency
- it takes away much of the guesswork of emergency response.
Councils who are thinking about ways in which social media might fit into their disaster response or emergency planning should have a look at the new Emergency 2.0 wiki project.
The aim of the collaborative site is to "share and advance knowledge on emergency management in the digital age". More broadly, the site seeks to empower the community with the knowledge to use web2.0 and social media in emergency communications, and encourages participation from government agencies and schools, emergency agencies, community agencies and nonprofits, business, the media and the public.
One thing demonstrated by these events is that no council is immune from the need to review and update their update their emergency management processes and procedures.
Karen Purser is the Manager of Community Planning and Reporting at Rockdale City Council.
This blog was originally published in August 2011
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Submitted by Karen Purser on 17th March 2014
Following the release of the Queensland Floods Commission Inquiry Interim Report there was a lot of discussion in the media about the importance of social media in community engagement and resilience building. Councils and other agencies used SMS, Twitter, and Facebook updates to communicate directly to their communities, and receive information which they could verify and pass on to others.
Brisbane Council and the Queensland Police have both produced very good case studies outlining their use of social media during the 2011 floods, and the pitfalls and successes they experienced.
An interesting article on the way social media has been used for emergency management in America noted that "By sharing images, texting and tweeting, the public is already becoming part of a large response network, rather than remaining mere bystanders or casualties", noting that the extensive reach of social networks allows people who are recovering from disasters to rapidly connect with resources to obtain help.
Social media use during a crisis may be beneficial because:
- it's real time
- it connects you to relief agencies
- it connects you to emergency response professionals
- it lets emergency responders monitor actual conversations at the scene of the emergency in real time
- it provides numerous, real-time reports on the effects of the emergency
- it takes away much of the guesswork of emergency response.
Councils who are thinking about ways in which social media might fit into their disaster response or emergency planning should have a look at the new Emergency 2.0 wiki project.
The aim of the collaborative site is to "share and advance knowledge on emergency management in the digital age". More broadly, the site seeks to empower the community with the knowledge to use web2.0 and social media in emergency communications, and encourages participation from government agencies and schools, emergency agencies, community agencies and nonprofits, business, the media and the public.
One thing demonstrated by these events is that no council is immune from the need to review and update their update their emergency management processes and procedures.
| Karen Purser is the Manager of Community Planning and Reporting at Rockdale City Council. This blog was originally published in August 2011 |
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Comments (1)
Posted by Chris_ACELG on Monday 17th March, 2014
For those looking at developing social media practice within their councils, Slide Share (another good social media site) has a number of resources on local government and social media that may be of use.