Fire, Wind and Water

Abstract

This case examines the issue of increasing adoption of Social Networking Technologies (SNTs), particularly microblogging, for emergency management practices during natural disasters. It discusses the technologies and how they are an integral part of information transfer for citizens in the geographic region affected by the natural disaster. This case presents the progression of how SNTs have been used during and in the aftermath of natural disasters in Australia between 2009 and 2011; these events are used as ‘organization’ for the paper. Accurate and timely information during natural disasters is essential in providing citizens with details about whether they should stay or leave an area. Traditionally, information was provided through television and radio broadcasts; however, these types of communications were one-way and only allowed for the push of information to citizens. SNTs are being used by the media and emergency organizations to provide information to citizens. These technologies are dynamic in their approach, allowing for knowledge sharing of all parties involved.

Crisis 2.0 in the Australian Context

“…Social networking sites and the media utilised (such as wikis, blogs and You-Tube), are increasingly important conduits for individual and group communications. Social media has emerged in recent reports on crisis events around the world as having played an integral component in supporting individuals and communities both during and after the event (Dabner, 2011;Freeman, 2011;Palen et al, 2009;Qu, Wu & Ward, 2009;Willems, 2011;Willems, 2012). Further, Belblidia (2010) has noted that social media can be used to build sustainable communities online.…”

Spatiotemporal Changes of Urban Rainstorm-Related Micro-Blogging Activities in Response to Rainstorms: A Case Study in Beijing, China

“…Nowadays, Twitter, Facebook, Flicker and Weibo have become indispensable platforms for people to share their ideas and disseminate vital information in time [14][15][16], in particularly when a natural disaster, public safety event, or disease infection event occurs [17][18][19][20][21]. Data collected through these platforms have been used in improving situation awareness [22][23][24], event detection [25,26], communication analysis [27,28] and even helping governments guide the public opinions [29,30].Social media data have also been used to detect and monitor the ongoing development of disasters such as influenza transmission, floods, typhoons, hurricanes, and terrorist attacks [31][32][33][34]. Different social media data have been examined to reveal the different development stages of a disaster and how human response to the development stages [35][36][37].…”

“…Nowadays, Twitter, Facebook, Flicker and Weibo have become indispensable platforms for people to share their ideas and disseminate vital information in time [14][15][16], in particularly when a natural disaster, public safety event, or disease infection event occurs [17][18][19][20][21]. Data collected through these platforms have been used in improving situation awareness [22][23][24], event detection [25,26], communication analysis [27,28] and even helping governments guide the public opinions [29,30].…”