This document summarizes research on the use of social media during the 2011 Queensland floods in Australia. It analyzes tweets using the hashtag #qldfloods to understand themes over time, key actors and networks. It finds that #qldfloods served as a coordinating tool, and that the Queensland Police Twitter account @QPSmedia emerged as a central information source. It also compares social media use across different recent crises and outlines next steps for the research.

1. Social Media Use in the Queensland Floods Image by campoalto Assoc. Prof. Axel Bruns / Dr. Jean BurgessQueensland University of Technology Assoc. Prof. Kate Crawford / Frances ShawUniversity of New South Wales ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries & Innovation

2. Crisis Communication research in the CCI ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries & Innovation (national, based at QUT) Project: Media Ecologies & Methodological Innovation Aims to implement new methods to understand the changing media environment; Focusing on the relationship between social media and traditional media and communication platforms; Combining large-scale computer-assisted techniques with qualitative social research and close textual analysis Focus on Crisis Communication Natural disasters Other ‘acute events’

3. Crisis Communication research in the CCI Jan-April 2011 Focus on uses of social media during the Qld Floods Archive of tweets using #qldfloodshashtag Analysis Volume of tweets over time @replies and retweets: key actors and their networks URLs: key media resources, user-uploaded images and videos Emergence and uptake of hashtags and other user conventions Content analysis: themes and purposes over time

4. Case study: @QPSMedia

5. Next steps More forensics: successes and failures, especially rumours and misinformation Further comparison with other recent natural disasters Comparing mainstream and social media coverage Social context: in-depth interviews with residents Direct engagement with emergency services, government and media

6. Twitter and the Queensland Floods: #qldfloods tweets 10 Jan 2011 11 Jan 2011 12 Jan 2011 13 Jan 2011 14 Jan 2011 15 Jan 2011

7. Local Focus: #qldfloods from Toowoomba to Brisbane Toowoomba vs. Lockyer/Grantham vs. Ipswich vs. Brisbane slide 10 Jan 2011 11 Jan 2011 12 Jan 2011 13 Jan 2011 14 Jan 2011 15 Jan 2011

8. Twitter and the Queensland Floods: #qldfloods posters retweet feeds mainstream media Qld Police

9. Twitter and the Queensland Floods: #qldfloods @replies authorities mainstream media

10. Twitter and the Christchurch Earthquake: #eqnz @replies mainstream media authorities utilities

11. Key Accounts over Time

12. @QPSmedia as Central #qldfloods Information Source

13. #qldfloods Network Map – Most Active Accounts Only(Degree >= 15 / Node size: indegree / node colour: outdegree)

14. Twitter Events in Perspective: Comparing the Main 24h

15. Twitter and the Japanese Tsunami: Beyond the #Hashtag

16. Twitter and the Queensland Floods First lessons: #qldfloods as coordinating tool – one central hashtag Go where the users are – and help establish hashtag Plus inventive additions – e.g. @QPSmedia #Mythbuster tweets Most activity by individuals – but key official accounts cut through Enable easy retweeting and sharing of messages Respond and engage Mainstream media are important in social media environments, too Twitter as an amplifier of key messages Twitter vs. Facebook – which works when?

17. Image by campoalto http://mappingonlinepublics.net/ @snurb_dot_info | a.bruns@qut.edu.au @jeanburgess | je.burgess@qut.edu.au @katecrawford | k.crawford@unsw.edu.au