Paper presented at ECREA 2012, Istanbul, 26 Oct. 2012.

1. Analysing Twitter Activity
in Crisis Contexts
Axel Bruns and Jean Burges
Queensland University of Technology
Brisbane, Australia
@snurb_dot_info | @jeanburgess
http://mappingonlinepublics.net/

2. SOCIAL MEDIA DURING CRISES
• Various platforms:
– Facebook, Twitter – updates and information
– YouTube, Flickr, Twitpic – first-hand video and photos
– Google Maps, Ushahidi – map-based information mashups
 Different tools for different purposes
• Various levels of maturity:
– Uses and use practices still developing
– Different demographic reach
• Technological differences:
– e.g. Facebook: built around personal networks; semi-private; discussion threads
– e.g. Twitter: open, flat network; public #hashtag conversations; update stream

3. THE 2011 QUEENSLAND FLOODS
• Chronology:
– December 2010 to January 2011: unprecedented rainfall
• Emergency declared for more than 50% of Queensland
• Wivenhoe dam reaches 180% capacity
– December 2010: Flooding in northern Queensland
– January 2011: Floods in southeast Queensland
• 10 January 2011: flash flooding in Toowoomba
• 10 January 2011: ‘inland tsunami’ in the Lockyer Valley
• 11 January 2011: flooding begins in Ipswich
• 12-16 January 2011: major flooding in Brisbane

4. (ABC News)

5. (news.com.au)

6. (ABC News)

7. (ABC News)

8. #QLDFLOODS TWEETS
10 Jan 2011 11 Jan 2011 12 Jan 2011 13 Jan 2011 14 Jan 2011 15 Jan 2011
(http://cci.edu.au/floodsreport.pdf)

9. #QLDFLOODS: @MENTIONS
authorities
mainstream
media

10. JUST THE FACTS: SELECTIVE RETWEETING

11. THE QUEENSLAND FLOODS COMMUNITY
• Self-organisation:
– Rapid establishment of #qldfloods hashtag
– Ad hoc development of community structures
– Highlighting of leading accounts, vigilant against disruption
– Suspension of petty squabbles (e.g. state politics)
• Innovation and rapid prototyping:
– Adjunct hashtags (#Mythbuster, #bakedrelief)
– Sharing and gathering of online resources
– Additional tools (Google Maps, Ushahidi Maps)
– Emergency services rapidly adopting social media tools
(despite lack of established strategies)
 ‘Go where they are’ rather than ‘build it and they will come’
 See CCI Report: #qldfloods and @QPSMedia: Crisis Communication on Twitter
in the 2011 South East Queensland Floods
(http://cci.edu.au/floodsreport.pdf)

12. 2010/11 CHRISTCHURCH EARTHQUAKES
• Series of earthquakes:
– 4 Sep. 2010 – M7.1
• Major structural damage, limited injuries
– 22 Feb. 2011 – M6.3
• Substantial devastation, major casualties
– 13 June 2011 – M6.3
• Major aftershock, further liquefaction
– 23 Dec. 2011 – M5.1-6.0
• Major aftershocks
• Significant use of social media – e.g. Twitter: #eqnz

13. (NZ Herald)

14. (NZ Herald)

15. (NZ Herald)

16. #EQNZ: @REPLIES RECEIVED (22 FEB. -7 MAR.)
mainstream news
authorities
utilities

17. #EQNZ: RETWEETS AND @REPLIES
• Changing @reply patterns with the move from rescue to recovery:
22-24 Feb 2011 25 Feb. - 3 Mar. 2011
Retweets @replies Retweets @replies
nzherald 5748 713 CEQgovtnz 3349 121
NZStuff 1736 312 nzherald 2227 447
AnthonyBaxter 1590 62 ChristchurchCC 1830 272
TVNZnews 1503 208 NZcivildefence 561 72
georgedarroch 1399 55 NZStuff 532 173
TelecomNZ 1289 592 NewstalkZB 431 43
abcnews 1131 127 operationSAFE 399 547
StephenFry 1094 44 nz_quake 350 22
vodafonenz 1071 559 TelecomNZ 314 163
CEQgovtnz 689 137 VMGiving 277 9
rgoodchild 577 125 NZTopModelColin 271 128
ChristchurchCC 573 211 georgedarroch 270 6
NewstalkZB 554 44 NZRedCross 268 207
SocialMedia_NZ 491 26 eqnz_live 240 29
HuffingtonPost 478 25 3NewsNZ 200 28

18. #EQNZ: VISIBILITY OF LEADING ACCOUNTS

19. TWITTER AND THE CHRISTCHURCH EARTHQUAKE
• Towards better strategies for social media in disasters:
– February 2011 earthquake building on lessons learnt in September
2010
• #eqnz and key Twitter accounts already established
• Several key accounts sharing the load and dividing responsibilities
– More sophisticated use of Twitter by residents and authorities
• Clear shift in attention after the immediate rescue phase:
– Marked differences in list of most @replied/retweeted accounts
– Some tracking of current problems / issues / fears may be possible
– Decline in overall tweet volume / diversification of #hashtags?

20. SOCIAL MEDIA AND CRISIS COMMUNICATION
• Twitter research:
– Develop better tools and metrics for evaluating social media communication
– In-depth analysis of communication patterns reveals how social media are used
– Real-time analytics: highlight key current issues, identify weak signals of crisis
– Monitor and improve effectiveness of social media communication strategies by
emergency services
• Social media uses:
– Inform, share, amplify, support, reassure, organise
– Need to track and work with user community: follow their conventions
(e.g. #eqnz hashtag)
– Two-way communication where feasible – more than broadcast messages
– Provide community with tools to self-organise for resilience

21. HASHTAG METRICS

22. http://mappingonlinepublics.net/
@snurb_dot_info
@jeanburgess
@_StephenH
@DrTNitins
@timhighfield
@cdtavijit