Last edited: 14 August 2023
Quick Facts
Publishing Organisation:
Congressional Research ServiceYear:
2011Primary Target Country:
United States of AmericaLanguages:
EnglishStatus:
PublishedCovers Thematic
Target audience
Audience experience level
Disaster Management Phase
Synopsis
Potential use of Social Media
The use of social media for emergencies and disasters may be conceptualized as two broad categories.
- First, social media can be used somewhat passively to disseminate information and receive user feedback via incoming messages, wall posts, and polls.
- A second approach involves the systematic use of social media as an emergency management tool.
- Systematic usage might include Public Safety and Crisis Information, Notifications, Emergency Warnings and Alerts, Situational Awareness and Citizen Communications, Requests for Assistance by citizens and Social Media and Recovery Efforts
Lessons Learned and Best Practices
There are a number of “lessons learned” and “best practices” when using social media for emergency management objectives. These include the need to:
- identify target audiences for the applications, such as civilians, nongovernmental organizations, volunteers, and participating governments
- determine appropriate types of information for dissemination
- disseminate information the public is interested in (e.g. what phase the incident is in, etc.)
- identify any negative consequences arising from the application—such as the potential spread
Potential Policy Implications
While there may be some potential advantages to using social media for emergencies and disasters, there may also be some potential policy issues and drawbacks associated with its use; e.g.
- Accurate Information
- Instances of inaccurate and false information may be an inherent problem, given the nature of social media platforms and the number of people disseminating information.
- Malicious Use of Social Media During Disasters
- Some individuals or organizations might intentionally provide inaccurate information to confuse, disrupt, or otherwise thwart response efforts.
- Malicious use of social media during an incident could range from mischievous pranks to acts of terrorism.
- Some individuals or organizations might intentionally provide inaccurate information to confuse, disrupt, or otherwise thwart response efforts.
- Technological Limitations
- Overreliance on the technology could be problematic under prolonged power outages.
- Yet many smartphones and tablets have battery lives lasting twelve hours or less depending on their use.
- Overreliance on the technology could be problematic under prolonged power outages.
- Administrative Cost Considerations
- The cost to launch and maintain a social media program for emergencies and disasters has to be considered including
- the number of personnel required to monitor multiple social media sources, verify the accuracy of incoming information, and respond to and redirect incoming messages
- The cost to launch and maintain a social media program for emergencies and disasters has to be considered including
- Privacy Issues
- Privacy concerns exist about the potential for the collection, retention, and data mining of personal information by the authorities with respect to its use of social media for disaster recovery purposes
Please note: Access to the following links is currently only available for project partners
Key facts : Social Media in disaster policies https://safetyinnovationcenter.sharepoint.com/:b:/r/sites/LINKS_shared/Freigegebene%20Dokumente/WP4/Guidelines/Guideline%20Documents/Working%20documents/Action%20cards/G25_SM%20and%20disasters_policy%20considerations_extract_level2.pdf
Social Media in disaster policies - considerations https://safetyinnovationcenter.sharepoint.com/:b:/r/sites/LINKS_shared/Freigegebene%20Dokumente/WP4/Guidelines/Guideline%20Documents/Working%20documents/Action%20cards/G25_SM%20and%20disasters_policy%20considerations_extract_level1.pdf
Linked to
- Technologies
- Use Cases
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None. See all Technologies.
- None. See all Use Cases.