See: Alexander, D.E. 2013. Social media in disaster risk reduction and crisis management. Science and Engineering Ethics (published on line 4 December 2013).
2. Emilia-Romagna, n. Italy
29 May 2012, 09:02hrs
M5.8 earthquake:
17 dead, 40 towns damaged
Social media provided a clear picture
of the situation within 50 minutes
3. 4 May 2013
Wetteren, Ghent, Belgium
Acrylonitrile explosion, fire
1 death, 300 evacuated
Social media reports were wildly inaccurate
5. E.L. Quarantelli: the information
technology revolution is in the same
class as the invention of writing,
printing, radio and television.
6. ...close inspection of technological
development reveals that technology
leads a double life, one which conforms
to the intentions of designers and
interests of power and another
which contradicts them—proceeding
behind the backs of their architects
to yield unintended consequences
and unanticipated possibilities."
Quarantelli (1997)
7. Wisdom: ability to take decisions
on the basis of principles,
experience and knowledge
Knowledge: understanding of how
things function (or should function)
Information: description of
physical and social situations
Data: basic facts and statistics
COMMUNICATION
Source: Y.F. Tuan
9. Social media: blogs, micro-blogs, social
book-marking, social networking, forums,
collaborative creation of documents (wikis),
sharing audio, photographic and video files.
11. • do not have an absolute centre
• do not produce an absolute consensus.
Social media
12. A different architecture: emergency
management systems are bureaucratic,
social media form a true open system.
13. • how they are used technically (e.g.
designing architecture and software)
• how they are used socially
(e.g. how people interact).
What we know about social media,
emergencies and disasters
14. • help disseminate alerts and warnings
• disseminate information to the public
• facilitate citizen journalism
• stimulate cash donation
• aid collaboration (e.g. on mapping).
In disasters, social media...
• help locate missing people
15.
16. Impact of disaster Time
Deficit Surplus
Excess of
information
Information
critical
but lacking
Shortage of
information
17. Social media in disaster
1. A listening function
2. Monitoring public debate
3. Integration of social media
into emergency management
4. Crowd-sourcing and
collaborative development
5. Creating social cohesion and
promoting therapeutic initiatives
6. Furtherance of causes
(including donation)
7. Research.
18. • rumour propagation
• circulating false information
• charlatan sites (e.g.
earthquake prediction)
• deliberate personal
attacks and defamation
• image manipulation.
Negative side of social media
• conspiracy theories
19. Conventional media are just
as capable as social media
of distorting a story.
PS: The death toll was 31...!
26. Long term
Short term
Emic components
Etic components
METAMORPHOSIS
OF CULTURE
Experiences of culture
[mass-media and consumer culture]
Accumulated cultural traits and beliefs
Inherited cultural background
Ideological
(non-scientific)
interpretations
of disaster
Learned
(scientific)
interpretations
of disaster
28. Emergency management:
an evolutionary approach
Proxy Participatory
Civil defence...............Civil protection
Command and control
Vertical chain
of command
Population excluded
Law and order
Secrecy
Collaboration
Task forces
Population consulted
and included
Problem solving
Openness
31. 1. How should we prepare for
computer system-related disasters?
2. Will IT make the rich richer
and the poor poorer in disasters?
3. How do we assure that technology
that is a "means" is not turned into an
"end" in itself in the disaster area?
4. In what ways should we deal with the
inevitable information overload problem?
5. How do we deal with information
that becomes lost or outdated?
6. How do we handle the increasing
likelihood of the diffusion of inappropriate
disaster relevant information?
Quarantelli, E.L. 1997. Disaster
Prevention & Management 6(2): 94-106.
32. 7. What are the implications of further
diminution of nonverbal communication?
8. Will the computer-based revolution make intra-
and inter-level communication even more difficult?
9. What are the negative consequences of the
probable acceleration of fads and fashions
associated with computer use in the disaster area?
10. What kinds of general social infrastructures and
cultures are necessary for the adequate functioning
of the disaster-relevant technology?
11. How do we develop a critical ability to discern
what is useful and what is not from among
the plethora of information on the Internet?
12. How can we reorient ourselves to cope with an
essentially formless topography that completely
changes distance relationships in communication?
Quarantelli, E.L. 1997. Disaster
Prevention & Management 6(2): 94-106.
33. Thank you for
your attention!
www.slideshare.net/dealexander
www.emergency-planning.blogspot.com
david.alexander@ucl.ac.uk