Social media use in emergency management

Authors

  • Clayton Wukich, PhD

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5055/jem.2015.0242

Keywords:

social media, crowdsourcing, situational awareness, emergency management, public safety

Abstract

Objective: To identify and illustrate the range of strategies and tactics available for emergency managers using social media.

Design: This study uses content analysis of more than 80 related journal articles, research reports, and government documents as well as more than 120 newspaper articles, identified through LexisNexis search queries.

Results: Three strategies, information dissemination, monitoring real-time data, and engaging the public in a conversation and/or crowdsourcing, are available to emergency managers to augment communication practices via face-to-face contact and through traditional media outlets. Academic research has identified several message types disseminated during response operations.1,2 Message types during other emergency phases have received less attention; however, news reporting and government reports provide best practices and inform this study. This article provides the foundation for a more complete typology of emergency management messages. Relatedly, despite limited attention in the academic research, monitoring social media feeds to accrue situational awareness and interacting with others to generate a conversation and/or to coordinate collective action also take place in various forms and are discussed.

Conclusions: Findings integrate the fragmented body of knowledge into a more coherent whole and suggest that practitioners might maximize outcomes through a three-step process of information dissemination, data monitoring, and the direct engagement of diverse sets of actors to spur risk reduction efforts. However, these steps require time, personnel, and resources, which present obstacles for agencies operating under conditions of personnel and resource scarcity.

Author Biography

Clayton Wukich, PhD

Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, Texas.

 

References

Heverin T, Zach L: Use of microblogging for collective sense-making during violent crises: A study of three campus shootings. J Am Soc Inf Sci Technol. 2012; 63(1): 34-47.

Sutton J, Johnson B, Spiro E, et al.: Tweeting what matters: Information, advisories, and alerts following the Boston Marathon events. Online Research Highlight. 2013. Available at http://heroicproject.org. Accessed March 1, 2014.

Dufty N: Using social media to build community disaster resilience. Aust J Emerg Manag. 2012; 27(1): 40-45.

FEMA: FEMA IS-29 Public Information Officer Awareness Course. Washington, DC: Federal Emergency Management Agency, 2013. Available at http://emilms.fema.gov/IS29/index.htm. Accessed March 15, 2014.

Mergel I, Greeves B: Social Media in the Public Sector Field Guide: Designing and Implementing Strategies and Policies. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2013.

Mergel I: Social Media in the Public Sector: A Guide to Participation, Collaboration, and Transparency in the Networked World. 1st ed. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2012.

Perlman BJ: Social media sites at the state and local levels: Operational success and governance failure. State Local Gov Rev. 2012; 44(1): 67-75.

Crowe A: Disasters 2.0: The Application of Social Media Systems for Modern Emergency Management. Boca Raton: CRC Press, 2012.

White C: Social Media, Crisis Communication, and Emergency Management: Leveraging Web 2.0 Technologies. Boca Raton: CRC Press, 2012.

Wukich C, Mergel I: Closing the citizen-government communication gap: Content, audience, and network analysis of government tweets. J Homeland Secur Emerg Manag. 2015 (in press).

Haddow GD, Haddow K: Disaster Communications in a Changing Media World. 2nd ed. Waltham, MA: Butterworth-Heinemann, 2014.

Comfort LK: Asymmetric information processes in extreme events: The December 26, 2004 Sumatran Earthquake and Tsunami. In Gibbons DE (ed.): Communicable Crises: Prevention, Response, and Recovery in the Global Arena.Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishers, 2007.

Kapucu N: Interagency communication networks during emergencies: Boundary spanners in multiagency coordination. Am Rev Public Adm. 2006; 36(2): 207-225.

Mergel I: The use of social media to dissolve knowledge silos in government. In O’Leary R, Van Slyke DM, Kim S (eds.): The Future of Public Administration, Public Management and Public Service Around the World: The Minnowbrook Perspective. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 2010.

Wukich C, Steinberg A: Nonprofit and public sector participation in self-organizing information networks: Twitter hashtag and trending topic use during disasters. Risk Hazards Crisis Public Policy. 2014; 4(2): 83-109.

Comfort LK: Crisis management in hindsight: Cognition, communication, coordination, and control. Public Adm Rev. 2007; 67(s1): 189-197.

Duggan M, Smith A: Social Media Update 2013. Pew Research Internet Project, December 30, 2013. Available at http://www.pewinternet.org/2013/12/30/social-media-update-2013/. Accessed July 1, 2014.

Pew Research Center: Cell Phone and Smartphone Ownership Demographics. 2014. Available at http://www.pewinternet.org/datatrend/mobile/cell-phone-and-smartphone-ownership-demographics/. Accessed June 20, 2014.

Bennett DM: How do emergency managers use social media platforms? J Emerg Manag. 2014; 12(3): 251-256.

Ashwood A: Written statement. In Emergency MGMT: 2.0 How #SocialMedia and New Tech are Transforming Preparedness, Response, & Recovery #Disasters, #Part2, #Govt/NGOs. Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness, Response and Communications. Washington, DC: Committee on Homeland Security, U.S. Congress. House, 2013: 112th Cong., 1st sess., July 9. Available at http://homeland.house.gov/hearing/emergency-mgmt-20-how-socialmedia-newtech-are-transforming-preparedness-response-recovery. Accessed June 15, 2014.

Su YS, Wardell C III, Thorkildsen Z: Social Media in the Emergency Management Field: 2012 Survey Results. Arlington, VA: CNA, 2013.

VERBI Software: MAXQDA, Software for Qualitative Data Analysis. Berlin, Germany: Sozialforschung GmbH, 2013.

Strauss AL, Corbin JM: Basics of Qualitative Research: Techniques and Procedures for Developing Grounded Theory. 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, 1998.

Hughes AL, Palen L: The evolving role of the public information officer: An examination of social media in emergency management. J Homeland Secur Emerg Manag. 2012; 9(1): 1-20.

Bukhari I, Wojtalewicz CJ, Vorvoreanu M, et al.: Social media use for large event management: The application of social media analytic tools for the Super Bowl XLVI. Paper presented at the IEEE Conference on Technologies for Homeland Security (HST), November 13-15, 2012.

Bruns A, Burgess J, Crawford K, et al.: #qldfloods and @QPSMedia: Crisis Communication on Twitter in the 2011 South East Queensland Floods. Kelvin Grove, QLD, Australia: ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries & Innovation (CCI), 2012.

Sutton J, Spiro E, Butts C, et al.: Tweeting the spill: Online informal communications, social networks, and conversational microstructures during the deepwater horizon oilspill. Int J Inf Syst Crisis Response Manag. 2013; 5(1): 58-76.

Hughes AL, St Denis LA, Palen L, et al.: Online public communications by police & fire services during the 2012 Hurricane Sandy. Paper presented at the 2014 International Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2014), Toronto, ON, Canada, 2014.

Lindell MK, Perry RW: The protective action decision model: Theoretical modifications and additional evidence. Risk Anal. 2012; 32(4): 616-632.

Sutton J, Spiro ES, Johnson B, et al.: Warning tweets: Serial transmission of messages during the warning phase of a disaster event. Inf Commun Soc. 2014; 17(6): 765-787.

Taylor M, Wells G, Howell G, et al.: The role of social media as psychological first aid as a support to community resilience building: A Facebook study from ‘Cyclone Yasi Update’. Aust J Emerg Manag. 2012; 27(1): 20-26.

Lindsay BR: Social Media and Disasters: Current Uses, Future Options, and Policy Considerations. CRS Report for Congress. Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 2011.

Presler R: Written statement. In Subcommittee Hearing: Understanding the Power of Social Media as a Communication Tool in the Aftermath of Disasters. Subcommittee on Disaster Recovery and Intergovernmental Affairs. Washington, DC: Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. U.S. Congress. Senate, 2011. 111th Cong., 1st sess., May 4. Available at http://www.hsgac.senate.gov/subcommittees/disaster-recovery-and-intergovernmental-affairs/hearings/understanding-the-power-of-social-mediaas-a-communications-tool-in-the-aftermath-of-disasters. Accessed June 1, 2014.

Vultee F, Vultee DM: What we tweet about when we tweet about disasters: The nature and sources of microblog comments during emergencies. Int J Mass Emerg Disasters. 2011; 29(3): 221-242.

Qu Y, Wu PF, Wang X: Online community response to major disaster: A study of Tianya Forum in the 2008 Sichuan Earthquake. Paper presented at the 42nd Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, Waikoloa, Big Island, HI, 2009.

Endsley MR: Toward a theory of situation awareness in dynamic systems. Hum Factors: J Hum Factors Ergon Soc. 1995; 37(1): 32-64.

Comfort LK: Risk, security, and disaster management. Annu Rev Polit Sci. 2005; 8: 335-356.

Weick KE: Sensemaking in Organizations. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, 1995.

Kierce WG: Written statement. In Emergency MGMT: 2.0 How #SocialMedia and New Tech are Transforming Preparedness, Response, & Recovery #Disasters, #Part2, #Govt/NGOs. Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness, Response and Communications. Washington, DC: Committee on Homeland Security, U.S. Congress. House, 2013. 112th Cong., 1st sess., July 9. Available at http://homeland.house.gov/hearing/emergency-mgmt-20-how-socialmedia-newtech-are-transforming-preparedness-response-recovery. Accessed June 15, 2014.

DiBlasio N: Relief groups try tweets, apps to spread the news. USA TODAY. McLean, VA: LexisNexis Academic, August 30, 2012. Available at http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/tech/news/story/2012-08-29/Disaster-Relief-Isaac-Social-Media/57414436/1. Accessed March 15, 2014.

Sutton JN: Social media monitoring and the democratic national convention: New tasks and emergent processes. J Homeland Secur Emerg Manag. 2009; 6(1): 1-20.

St Denis LA, Hughes AL, Palen L: Trial by fire: The deployment of trusted digital volunteers in the 2011 shadow lake fire. Paper presented at the 9th International ISCRAM Conference, Vancouver, BC, Canada, 2012.

Ming Y, Kiang M, Yungchang K, et al.: Social media analytics for radical opinion mining in hate group web forums. J Homeland Secur Emerg Manag. 2011; 8(1): 1-17.

Yin J, Lampert A, Cameron M, et al.: Using social media to enhance emergency situation awareness. Intell Syst. 2012; 27(6): 52-59.

Liu SB, Palen L: The new cartographers: Crisis map mashups and the emergence of neogeographic practice. Cartogr Geogr Inf Sci. 2010; 37(1): 69-90.

Department of Homeland Security: DHS Uses Social Media to Enhance Information Sharing and Mission Operations, But Additional Oversight and Guidance are Needed. Washington, DC: Department of Homeland Security, 2013. Available at http://www.oig.dhs.gov/assets/Mgmt/2013/OIG_13-55_Mar13.pdf. Accessed June 20, 2014.

McKay J: Sandy created a black hole of communication. Emergency Management. Folsom, CA: LexisNexis Academic, January 28, 2013. Available at http://www.emergencymgmt.com/disaster/Sandy-Black-Hole-of-Communication.html. Accessed May 15, 2014.

Ripberger JT, Jenkins-Smith HC, Silva CL, et al.: Social media and severe weather: Do tweets provide a valid indicator of public attention to severe weather risk communication? Weather Clim Soc. 2014; 6: 520-530.

Clolery P: Red Cross opens social media center for disaster response. The Nonprofit Times. March 7, 2012. Available at http://www.thenonprofittimes.com/news-articles/red-cross-opens-socialmedia-center-for-disaster-response/. Accessed July 4, 2014.

Business World (Digest): Twitter Helps in Sandy Storm Chaos. LexisNexis Academic, October 31, 2012.

American Red Cross: Red Cross and Dell Open North Texas Social Media Listening Center. April 3, 2014. Available at http://

www.redcross.org/news/article/tx/dallas-fort-worth/Red-Cross-and-Dell-Open-North-Texas-Social-Media-Listening-Center. Accessed July 3, 2014.

Gupta A, Kumaraguru P: Credibility ranking of tweets during high impact events. In Proceedings of the 1st Workshop on Privacy and Security in Online Social Media. Lyon, France: ACM, 2012.

Fugate C: Written statement. In Subcommittee Hearing: Understanding the Power of Social Media as a Communication Tool in the Aftermath of Disasters. Subcommittee on Disaster Recovery and Intergovernmental Affairs. Washington, DC: Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, U.S. Congress. Senate, 2011. 111th Cong., 1st sess., May 4. Available at http://www.hsgac.senate.gov/subcommittees/disaster-recovery-and-intergovernmental-affairs/hearings/understanding-the-power-of-social-mediaas-a-communications-tool-in-the-aftermath-of-disasters. Accessed June 1, 2014.

Adamski S: Written Statement. In Emergency MGMT: 2.0 How #SocialMedia and New Tech are Transforming Preparedness, Response, & Recovery #Disasters, #Part2, #Govt/NGOs. Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness, Response and Communications. Washington, DC: Committee on Homeland Security, U.S. Congress. House, 2013: 112th Cong., 1st sess., July 9. Available at http://homeland.house.gov/hearing/emergency-mgmt-20-how-socialmedia-newtech-are-transforming-preparedness-response-recovery. Accessed June 15, 2014.

Briones RL, Kuch B, Liu BF, et al.: Keeping up with the digital age: How the American Red Cross uses social media to build relationships. Public Relat Rev. 2011; 37(1): 37-43.

Beckerman M: Written statement. In Subcommittee Hearing: Emergency MGMT 2.0: How #SocialMedia & New Tech are Transforming Preparedness, Response, & Recovery #Disasters #Part1 #Privatesector. Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness, Response and Communications. Washington, DC: Committee on Homeland Security, U.S. Congress. House, 2013. 112th Cong., 1st sess., June 4. Available at http://homeland.house.gov/hearing/emergency-mgmt-20-how-socialmedia-new-tech-are-transformingpreparedness-response-recovery. Accessed June 15, 2014.

Department of Homeland Security: Emergency Support Function #15 – External Affairs Annex. National Response Framework. Washington, DC: Department of Homeland Security, 2013. Available at http://www.fema.gov/media-library-data/20130726-1914-25045-7063/final_esf_15_external_affairs_20130501.pdf. Accessed June 10, 2014.

Starbird K, Palen L: “Voluntweeters”: Self-organizing by digital volunteers in times of crisis. Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. Vancouver, BC, Canada: ACM, 2011.

Ambinder E, Jennings DM, Blachman-Biatch I, et al.: The Resilient Social Network: @OccupySandy #SuperstormSandy. Falls Church, VA: Homeland Security Studies and Analysis Institute, 2013.

Latonero M, Shklovski I: Emergency management, Twitter, and social media evangelism. Int J Inf Syst Crisis Response Manag. 2011; 3(4): 1-16.

Published

07/01/2015

How to Cite

Wukich, PhD, C. “Social Media Use in Emergency Management”. Journal of Emergency Management, vol. 13, no. 4, July 2015, pp. 281-94, doi:10.5055/jem.2015.0242.