Social Media in Emergency Management

Social media platforms are becoming increasingly important in order to connect with the general public. And, during crisis situations, these communication channels become doubly crucial. Official agencies in many countries around the globe are already reaping the benefits of creating an engaging social media presence through the internet.

Disaster relief and emergency response efforts have been going international through virtual volunteering, crisis mapping and crowd sourcing.

Many online software platforms are available that meet the challenge of mapping the supply of virtual volunteers, donations and other kinds of relief with the sudden and sporadic demand for aid and intervention during emergencies.

Social media is creating new and innovative approaches in Emergency management (EM) responses. Some of the many benefits are listed below:

End to end crisis resolutions can be executed, synchronized, and monitored through a coordinated and collective effort in real time.

It is imperative to note at this juncture that in order to facilitate such widespread collaboration in times of distress, these information sharing mechanisms need to have a simple yet structurally efficient framework of working. Online platforms should also be used efficiently during non emergency times in order to stay constantly in touch with the public through forums of debates, discussions and dialogue that foster trust and a sense of camaraderie amongst the various parties involved. The use of social media in this regard should be emphasized as building a trustworthy and reliable brand is a slow process that takes time.

Furthermore, there are no standardized policies or protocols for the use of social media towards disaster management. This is necessary for giving rescue efforts a generic working model that can be adapted to specific crisis situations.

Also, there hasn’t been much research on the use of social media in emergency response. Extensive academic investigation on the subject can lead to game changing trends and breakthroughs in the field of disaster recovery through new findings and empirical data.

There isn’t sufficient training available on social media strategies. Skills, core competencies and areas of specialization for rescue teams and volunteers need to be clearly defined. The necessary training to meet these requirements needs to be imparted on a regular basis.

The following table shows how social media networking technologies can be mapped to emergency management related activities across three main categories: Public Information, Situational Awareness and Monitoring, Evaluation & Planning.

The general public can be kept informed and up to date through social media channels. Information can be shared with a large number of people in a short span of time. However, due to possible disruption of communications infrastructure during emergencies, social media platforms have never completely replaced other traditional communication channels.

Information sharing on social media channels across a variety of formats such as text, video, audio, images, and graphs provides a valuable source of crisis related reference material. A major challenge involves sifting through the barrage of information and identifying what is relevant and essential. This activity becomes particularly crucial when response timeframes and available resources are limited. Despite technological advancements towards automating many of these tasks, there are still gaps and no standardized tool that provides a comprehensive yet cost effective solution is available as yet. Nevertheless, customized mobile applications in the market are available with user friendly functionalities such as geo-referencing, time-stamping, traceable reporting and automated mapping. Some applications allow multiple simultaneous uploads. Incident reports can be filtered quickly and the incident’s location can be verified in detail.

Information collected from social media can be used to analyze the effectiveness of campaigns and emergency preparedness measures. It also aids in constantly improving strategies, tactics, policies and programs that have been put in place. Forensic and post event inspections are also possible. New threats and trends can be spotted early and nipped in the bud. The relevant information can aid in preparedness planning. Social media intelligence is rapidly becoming an integral component of strategic decision making in large corporations.

As disaster recovery strategies evolve and move beyond mere relief and recovery solutions, a number of organizations are realizing the importance of being able to communicate with people impacted by a crisis. Social media platforms provide a convenient channel that brings together emergency management solution providers, volunteer associations, business units and NGOs under one roof. In such a framework, the general public becomes an active participant and provides valuable inputs towards

Connecting with disaster affected communities through social media has already become a routine response activity during emergencies. People impacted by a crisis can provide valuable localized and issue specific data towards preparedness, response and recovery strategies.

However, mapping the inputs from the general public (who have little or no training and orientation towards disaster recovery) to the specialized information needs of emergency experts, still poses a formidable challenge. Governments and official bodies continue to be skeptical about using social media platforms extensively for crisis management owing to their widespread use primarily for recreational purposes. The usage of social media applications in general is not known to be well regulated either. And its constantly changing nature owing to rapid technological advances and upgrades lends a fair amount of volatility that can prove detrimental to disaster management efforts whose primary focus is restoring stability and normalcy.

People and task coordination along with progress monitoring can be efficiently implemented using social media tools provided all parties involved, including stakeholders, customers, employees, volunteer groups, emergency solution providers, the general public etc. are well acquainted with each other and a fair share of trust and mutual understanding between them can be counted on. This is a slow and long process and cannot be achieved overnight, but a crucial pre-requisite for using social media to take disaster recovery to the next level.

Below are listed some emerging social media strategies that are gaining momentum in empowering and engaging communities in emergency management –

Disparities in organizational culture hinder social media capabilities during emergency management.

Traditional agencies are founded on rigid organizational frameworks with top down military style hierarchical structures. They have a clearly defined business model with roles, responsibilities and delegated tasks driven by strong leadership and effective management.

Virtual volunteer networks on the other hand, have a fare more de-centralized layout with a community based structural approach. Virtual volunteers focus more on working collectively and emphasize on the importance of collaboration. Leadership and decision-making is never concentrated in a handful of key personnel. Everyone involved is empowered to take initiative and act proactively.

Both systems have their pros and cons. Traditional emergency management organizations have many advantages which have been tried and tested successfully during numerous crisis situations in the past. Such a high success rate rules out any possibility of a complete shift towards a decentralized, network based virtual volunteer system. However, there is speculation that the way ahead is through an effective interface between the two systems that harmonizes the best of both worlds. A case in point is the Innovation team deployed by FEMA shortly after Hurricane Sandy made landfall. The Innovation team is an eclectic group made up of people with diverse profiles, from government agencies, NGOs, International organizations, volunteer associations, business enterprises as well as well meaning citizens.

Building a social media emergency management (SMEM) capability depends primarily on four main dimensions: people, governance, technology and implementation.

Each of the four dimensions has essential elements that evolve as the organization develops the characteristics related to that element.