http://mashable.com/2011/02/11/social-media-in-emergencies/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Mashable+%28Mashable%29
I thought this was an interesting story and graphic about using social networks to alert people of an emergency.
I think sites like Twitter are an excellent way to get news to people immediately, especially during a big emergency. For example, with the Fort Hood incident it was Twitter that instantly provided the news to soldiers and people around the world.
But, the graphic also shows a real tweet from someone who needs an ambulance. All I have to say is, hopefully someone saw it.
For a major national crisis I think using social media to spread the word on emergencies works great, because someone will pick up on it. But if I was injured on the side of the road I wouldn't count on a "tweet" to save my life, unless I had thousands of followers. It couldn't hurt to send out a message on Twitter or Face Book during a personal emergency, but what if no one was online, or people thought it was a joke.
Although, sometimes it may be the only way to get a message out. For example if someone is kidnapped and can't make any noise, they could just send out their whereabouts.
Overall, I think social media sites can help during an emergency. Just be sure you want everyone to know about that particular emergency.
*For someone like myself who can't "tweet", or use any social media from my cell phone, this issue is less likely to effect me, unless I'm sitting at a computer at the time of the emergency.
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It's kind of like filling out a job application...where is says "Emergency contact", put "Doctor". If I can update my social media, I am just as capable of texting my family or calling 911.
ReplyDeleteThat said, Twitter routinely beats AP on earthquake stories. I's probably because of all the Hollywood-types who use it :)
Interesting indeed. After all, Internet -or more correctly, ARPANET- was designed to be a stable network of connections even in the darkest of times. I guess social networking can be considered as a logical evolution in that sense.
ReplyDeleteHowever, it would be sheer madness to rely solely on the social media, or even the Internet, in crisis communication. Grim example comes from last summer in Finland, where a massive storm cut power lines and isolated thousands of rural people from the outside world for days, some even for weeks. With the electricity down, not even the cellphones could get connection as the local network support masts were offline.
As an extension of already existing governmental and local crisis communication networks, social media sure has earned its place. But if you don't hear from your neighbor for a while, it's still good make an old fashioned house call.