From #qldfloods to #sandy: Engaging with the Public during Crisis EventsAssoc. Prof. Axel BrunsARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and InnovationQueensland University of TechnologyBrisbane, Australia
[email protected] / @snurb_dot_info
http://mappingonlinepublics.net/ / http://socialmedia.qut.edu.au/
SOCIAL MEDIA DURING CRISES
• Various platforms:– Facebook, Twitter – updates and information
– YouTube, Flickr, Twitpic – first-hand video and photos
– Google Maps, Ushahidi – map-based information mashups Different tools for different purposes
• Various levels of maturity:– Uses and use practices still developing
– Different demographic reach
• Technological differences:– e.g. Facebook: built around personal networks; semi-private; discussion threads
– e.g. Twitter: open, flat network; public #hashtag conversations; update stream
CRISIS COMMUNICATION RESEARCH AT QUT
• ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries & Innovation (national, based at QUT)
– Project: Media Ecologies & Methodological Innovation
• New methods to understand the changing media environment
• Role of social media, especially Twitter
http://mappingonlinepublics.net/
– Project: Social Media in Times of Crisis
• Focus on crisis communication
• Partnerships with Queensland Department of Community Safety, Eidos Institute
http://cci.edu.au/floodsreport.pdf
KEY CHALLENGES IN CRISIS COMMUNICATION
• Information dissemination:– Crisis communication strategies of emergency services /
emergency media organisations– Evaluating effectiveness and resonance– Maintaining public visibility of social media accounts outside of
acute crisis situations
• Information discovery:– (Early) detection of crisis events in social media feeds– Identification and evaluation of crisis-relevant information– Correlation of crowdsourced information with other crisis data
INFORMATION DISSEMINATION
THE QUEENSLAND FLOODS COMMUNITY
• Self-organisation:– Rapid establishment of #qldfloods hashtag– Ad hoc development of community structures– Highlighting of leading accounts, vigilant against disruption– Suspension of petty squabbles (e.g. state politics)
• Innovation and rapid prototyping:– Adjunct hashtags (#Mythbuster, #bakedrelief)– Sharing and gathering of online resources– Additional tools (Google Maps, Ushahidi Maps)– Emergency services rapidly adopting social media tools
(despite lack of established strategies)
‘Go where they are’ rather than ‘build it and they will come’
See CCI Report: #qldfloods and @QPSMedia: Crisis Communication on Twitter in the 2011 South East Queensland Floods (http://cci.edu.au/floodsreport.pdf)
#QLDFLOODS TWEETS
10 Jan 201111 Jan 2011 12 Jan 201113 Jan 201114 Jan 201115 Jan 2011
#QLDFLOODS @MENTIONS
mainstream media
authorities
#EQNZ @MENTIONS (22 FEB. 2011)
mainstream media
authorities
utilities
RETWEETS: MESSAGE AMPLIFICATION
JUST THE FACTS: SELECTIVE RETWEETING
WHAT LINKS ARE SHARED?
#SANDY: URLS, PHOTOS, VIDEOS
#SANDY: RUMOURS, FAKES, MISINFORMATION?
MISINFORMATION ON SOCIAL MEDIA
• Concerns over misinformation:– Rumours and fakes do circulate– But: community addresses and counters misinformation
(unless obviously fake, and humorous)– Majority of the most-shared #sandy images were legitimate (cf. The Guardian)
• Addressing misinformation:– Monitor, engage, and counteract – e.g. #mythbuster– Enlist community in fighting misinformation– Encourage and acknowledge constructive behaviour
• Rumours:– Not all rumours are detrimental– Rumours keep a community together, sensitise it for bad news to come– Rumours can help encourage people to make preparations “just in case”
INFORMATION DISCOVERY
KEY CHALLENGES
• Identification:– Unforeseen events: need to track more than keywords (‘big data’)– Potential to identify emerging events from overall activity patterns
• Evaluation:– Real? Hoax? Metaphor (“the bank has collapsed”)?– May need semantic analysis, user profiling, independent verification
• Incorporation:– Correlation and integration with standard emergency data sources– Timeframes: how long until crowdsourced information expires?
10 Jan 2011 11 Jan 2011 12 Jan 2011 13 Jan 2011 14 Jan 2011 15 Jan 2011
#QLDFLOODS FROM TOOWOOMBA TO BRISBANE
#EQNZ: KEY THEMES
#EQNZ: MENTIONS OF THE CTV BUILDING
Graph: Avijit Paul(@cdtavijit); see Paul & Bruns (2013)
CO
MM
ON
PA
TT
ER
NS
(Bruns & Stieglitz, 2012)
SOCIAL MEDIA AND CRISIS COMMUNICATION
• Social media research:– Develop better tools and metrics for evaluating social media communication– In-depth analysis of communication patterns reveals how social media are used– Real-time analytics: highlight key current issues, identify weak signals of crisis– Monitor and improve effectiveness of social media communication strategies by
emergency services
• Social media uses:– Inform, share, amplify, support, reassure, organise– Need to track and work with user community: follow their conventions
(e.g. #eqnz hashtag)– Two-way communication where feasible – more than broadcast messages– Provide community with tools to self-organise for resilience
MAINTAINING MOMENTUM
• Crisis communication across multiple events:– What happens to accounts once the acute crisis phase is over?– Which social media platforms are best for immediate dissemination, which for community organisation and
resilience?– How do different events compare in their social media patterns and needs?
• Formalisation of social media practices:– Where / how are social media units positioned within emergency management organisations?– How can experiences be shared across the emergency management sector?– Is there a need for standardisation of structures, policies, tools?– How can innovation be fostered, evaluated, mainstreamed?
• Further research:– Need to document experiences, share knowledge, develop new initiatives– E.g. ARC Linkage project “Social Media in Times of Crisis” (QUT / DCS / Eidos Institute)– E.g. QUT Centre for Emergency and Disaster Management– How else can we help?
#EQNZ: VISIBILITY OF LEADING ACCOUNTS IN EACH EVENT
http://mappingonlinepublics.net/@snurb_dot_info
@jeanburgess
@dpwoodford
@lena_sauter
@timhighfield
@cdtavijit
@socialmediaQUT
