This document discusses local and global responses to disasters using the 2010-2011 Christchurch earthquakes in New Zealand as a case study. It analyzes data captured from Twitter using the hashtag #eqnz to understand communication patterns and how social media were used. The analysis revealed shifting attention and roles of key Twitter accounts over time, from immediate rescue to longer-term recovery. It advocates for better social media crisis communication strategies and tools to inform, support, and organize affected communities.

1. Local and Global Responses to Disaster:
#eqnz and the Christchurch Earthquake
Assoc. Prof. Axel Bruns, Dr. Jean Burgess
ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation
Queensland University of Technology
Brisbane, Australia
a.bruns@qut.edu.au / je.burgess@qut.edu.au
http://mappingonlinepublics.net/
http://mappingonlinepublics.net/

2. Crisis Communication Research at QUT
o ARC Centre of Excellence for
Creative Industries &
Innovation (national, based at
QUT)
o Project: Media Ecologies &
Methodological Innovation
o New methods to understand
the changing media
environment;
o Role of social media, especially
Twitter
o Focus on Crisis Communication
eg #qldfloods
o Partnerships with government,
media orgs
http://cci.edu.au/floodsreport.pdf
http://mappingonlinepublics.net/

3. Methods
o Keyword-based archive (eg #qldfloods,
#eqnz, bieber)
o Capture: yourTwapperkeeper
o Analysis: text analysis software, manual
coding
o Activity, themes & topics, key actors &
info sources; over time
http://mappingonlinepublics.net/

4. Twitter and the 22 Feb. Christchurch Earthquake: #eqnz
http://mappingonlinepublics.net/

5. #eqnz: Tweets Sent by Most Active Accounts (22 Feb.-7 Mar.)
http://mappingonlinepublics.net/

6. #eqnz: @replies Received (Including Manual Retweets; 22 Feb.-7 Mar.)
mainstream news
authorities
utilities
http://mappingonlinepublics.net/

7. #eqnz: Tweet Types Received by Leading Accounts (22 Feb.-7 Mar.)
http://mappingonlinepublics.net/

8. #eqnz: Tweet Types over Time (22 Feb.-7 Mar.)

9. #eqnz: Manual Retweets and @replies (22 Feb.-7 Mar.)
o 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
http://mappingonlinepublics.net/

10. #eqnz: Number of Unique Users Discussing the 2010/11 Earthquakes
http://mappingonlinepublics.net/

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

12. #eqnz: Contribution by Different User Groups (22 Feb.-7 Mar.)
http://mappingonlinepublics.net/

13. #eqnz: Contribution by Different User Groups in Each Event
http://mappingonlinepublics.net/

14. #eqnz: Visibility of Leading Accounts in Each Event
http://mappingonlinepublics.net/

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

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