See: Alexander, D.E. 2013. Social media in disaster risk reduction and crisis management. Science and Engineering Ethics (published on line 4 December 2013).

1. Social Media,
Disasters and Resilience
David Alexander
University College London

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

4. We have
come a
long way
in a very
short
space of
time...

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

8. Information and
Communications
Technology
News and
information
dissemination
Public
participation
in disaster
risk reduction
Disaster research
Disaster management
and risk reduction
ICT is the nexus
Social media are now a the heart of ICT

9. Social media: blogs, micro-blogs, social
book-marking, social networking, forums,
collaborative creation of documents (wikis),
sharing audio, photographic and video files.

10. The age of the "selfie"...

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

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...!

20. Feedback
Feedback
Direct
communication
Press
conferences,
communiques Consumer
relations
Civil
protection
service
The
mass
media
Call
centre The
general
public
Social media

21. Social media dispense with
‘‘information gatekeepers’’: and use
apomediation or disintermediation
- i.e., group moderation

22. Organised
Spontaneous
Established
Kinship
groups
Individual
citizens
Disaster
subcultures
Emergent
groups
Citizens'
organisations Charitable
NGOs
Some public
stakeholders
in disaster
response
Schools
Workplace
groups

23. Rebecca Goolsby (2009): ‘‘finding useful
‘tweets’ during a major event… is a little
like panning for gold in a raging river.’’

24. Resilient
culture
Culture of
resilience

25. Social factors
Plan
Message
Technology Response
Perception
Culture
Optimisation

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

27. Symbolism
inherent in
technological
culture
Traditional
symbolism
and portent
Event
Interpretation
Dynamic cultural
metamorphosis

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

29. Are emergencies merely gigantic tests
of the duration of batteries?

30. Change is inevitable:
except from vending machines!
Oya District, Kesennuma, Japan tsunami area

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