social media's new role in disaster response
TRANSCRIPT
By: Meredith Binns for FILM
260 !
Social Media’s New Role in Disaster
Response Photocredit: VinceFL
Social Media is changing the way we are informed about, and respond to disasters on many fronts
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...it is changing the way news is spread and is closing the “awareness gap”
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News companies such as the WALL STREET JOURNAL and HUFFINGTON POST have created revolutionary Facebook apps allowing users to comment on, share and tag friends
in stories, integrating n e w s into social feeds
In retrospect, the irony is that I didn't learn about the breaking
news via the New York Times or CNN, but through Facebook”
-Amy Wu, Huffington Post
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“This morning in Hong Kong I opened my iPod, logged onto Facebook and learned about the tragedy at the Boston Marathon.
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“Social News” r e fe r s to webs i tes tha t f ea tu r e user-
pos ted s to r ies tha t a r e vo ted on and r anked based on
popu la r i t y.
I t r e l i e s on crowd sourcing t o sha pe
fo cus i n a bo t t om-up f a sh i on , fo r m ing a
t ype o f collective intelligence
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The growth of social news has
increased awareness of news
stories and has a way of involving more and more people in the story�
�
“TRAGEDY SEEMS CLOSER THAN EVER IN THE AGE OF THE INTERNET.
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THE WORLD IS NOT ONLY FLAT, BUT IT HAS BEEN SHRUNK AND SHRINK WRAPPED BECAUSE OF SOCIAL MEDIA INCLUDING FACEBOOK, TWITTER AND GOOGLE” - AMY WU, HUFFINGTON POST
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In the past couple years, social
media has been at the center of response and awareness for events such as
Hurricane Sandy, the Aurora shooting
and Boston bombing
80% of Americans expect emergency response
agencies to monitor and respond to social media
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37% of disaster survivors use info on social media to buy supplies and find shelter!
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At its peak, Instagram users uploaded Hurricane Sandy-related photos at a rate of ten per second
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Immediately following the Aurora shooting a teen with the Reddit user name, Integ3r, created a series of four posts with by-the-minute developments on the story,
many of which hadn't yet been reported by major news stations and websites
On a makeshift Google Doc, entitled “I have a place to offer – Boston Marathon explosion” 4,945 people added their names, emails, phone numbers and housing information
Photocredit: lioil …in less than 12 hours !
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Even law enforcement is utilizing social media to aid in investigations
In 2011, 40% of agencies were using social media to solicit tips from the public
Just one year later, that percentage jumped to 56.8%
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they received 5,000 hours of video from the public
In 2011, when inves;gators sought informa;on about Vancouver rioters
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By tracking the time at which the Boston bomber suspect tweeted, Police were able to identify his
daily schedule including his sleeping patterns
OF COURSE, THERE IS A DARK SIDE TO EVERY STORY,
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AND THE SAME IS TRUE IN THE CASE OF SOCIAL MEDIA AND
DISASTER NEWS AND RESPONSE
Since the content of
social news sites can be
user-generated, we must be
careful not to believe
everything we read !
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There have been situations where people are wrongly identified by the public and have been subject to scrutiny and harassment despite never having been considered suspects by law enforcement���
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any random rumor �can spread around the world in no ,me at all”
-‐ Lila King, CNN Senior Director for Social News
“Fact-‐checking and verifica;on has never been more important as it is today when social media means
If the last year is any indication, social media will continue to increase the power of people coming together in crisis and revolutionize
the way we respond to such events
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hAp://www.cbsnews.com/8301-‐504083_162-‐57580106-‐504083/boston-‐marathon-‐bombing-‐crowdsourcing-‐how-‐ci,zens-‐are-‐using-‐the-‐internet-‐to-‐help-‐solve-‐crimes/ hAp://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Opinion/2013/0426/Boston-‐bombings-‐Come-‐together-‐right-‐now-‐on-‐social-‐media hAp://www.huffingtonpost.com/amy-‐wu/boston-‐tragedyone-‐click-‐a_b_3092223.html hAp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/20/morgan-‐jones-‐18-‐year-‐old-‐_n_1690292.html hAp://www.huffingtonpost.com/sam-‐fiorella/the-‐intersec,on-‐of-‐news_b_3260278.html hAp://socialnewsdaily.com/14097/social-‐media-‐the-‐new-‐face-‐of-‐disaster-‐response-‐infographic/ Note: All images are licensed under crea;ve commons and sourced from Flickr
Sources
Photocredit: jvoves