While social media is often used for senseless shouting into the void, the media is often able to use it to report on natural and manmade disasters, alerting surrounding populations an estimated forty percent sooner than they would by radio or television broadcast . In many countries, the populations are very attuned with their social media account, and a disaster is noticeable news. In some cases, first responders, witnesses, bystanders, and victims can become reporters, using their media accounts to report what is happening. New outlets can report secondhand information in this way, or boost information that has already been reported by victims .
Information on the web is constantly being collected by government, and analyzed for various reasons. The private sector and volunteer agency responders can use the information collected from social media in various ways. They could use the information for traditional purposes, tracking storm seasons and preparing areas for storm seasons. Twitter and Facebook posts would be filled with previous information allowing volunteer organizations to see what resources areas lacked during specific disasters, for example, allowing them to prepare more thoroughly .
It is likely social media will continue to change how we are alerted to disasters and receive assistance in the future. Media outlets use it more and more to report on events, though currently it is primarily in the hands of the average user. As disaster preparedness tasks forces use social media more comprehensively, users in effected areas could receive real time updates alerting them to disasters, as well as information on where safe areas and resources are located. This, of course, will only be a viable option as long as internet remains function in the affected area, which is an issue in itself.
Works Cited
Latonero, Mark and Irina Shklovski. "Emergency Management, Twitter, and Social Media Evangelism." International Journal of Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (2011): 67-86. Print.
Merchant, Raina M., Stacy Elmer and Nicole Lurie. "Integrating Social Media into Emergency-Preparedness Efforts." The New England Journal of Medicine (2011): 289-291. Print.
White, Connie M. Social Media, Crisis Communication, and Emergency Management: Leveraging Web 2.0 Technologies. Chicago: CRC Press, 2011. Print.
