Social Media in Emergency Response

Topic Collection

2/26/2018

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Topic Collection: Social Media in Emergency Response The use and impact of social media platforms (e.g., Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Snapchat, and

YouTube) has skyrocketed over the past decade and has significantly supplemented—if not

nearly replaced—more traditional means of communication in many areas of the U.S.. There are

two primary ways that emergency managers engage in social media: posting information for

public knowledge (e.g., road closures, shelter locations, and weather updates) and gleaning

information to help allocate resources. Recent disasters have highlighted the level to which

survivors and responders use social media to communicate about issues such as: their status and

location, the effect of the disaster on their surroundings, where and how to locate shelter and

supplies, how to report to areas that need volunteer support (and how to make donations over the

internet), and strategies for obtaining medical care. In addition to building community

relationships and setting expectations pre-disaster, planners can use social media to identify and

monitor potential threats to public health, and communicate with residents about threats (e.g.,

infectious disease), pending incidents (e.g., severe weather), and the location and availability of

services (e.g., shelters and points of distribution). Tools such as crowdsourcing (collecting

information from a large group of people via the Internet) and data mining bolster these efforts.

Because the nature of social media changes so frequently and is used for a wide variety of

purposes, the ASPR TRACIE Team narrowed our search results to include lessons learned and

promising practices from incidents within the past decade and actionable resources specific to

our audience.

We understand that lessons are still being collated from recent events (e.g., mass violence

incidents, hurricanes, and wildfires). We encourage you to share your resources with us for

consideration; we will update this Topic Collection as new resources are published.

Access the following ASPR TRACIE Topic Collections for additional, related information:

Communication Systems; Cybersecurity; Emergency Public Information and Warning/ Risk

Communications; Information Sharing; and Virtual Medical Care.

Each resource in this Topic Collection is placed into one or more of the following categories

(click on the category name to be taken directly to that set of resources). Resources marked with

an asterisk (*) appear in more than one category.

Must Reads

Education and Training

General Guidance

Lessons Learned: Boston Marathon

Lessons Learned: Floods

Lessons Learned: General

Lessons Learned: Hurricanes

Lessons Learned: Infectious Diseases

Lessons Learned: Mass Violence

Lessons Learned: Tornadoes

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Lessons Learned: Wildfires

Plans, Tools, and Templates

Agencies and Organizations

Must Reads

Ambinder, E., Jennings, D., Blachman-Biatch, I., et al. (2013). The Resilient Social Network.

@OccupySandy #SuperstormSandy. Homeland Security Studies and Analysis Institute.

The authors researched and developed a case study on the impact of the group "Occupy

Sandy" (which grew from the Occupy Wall Street movement), the Twitter handle

"@OccupySandy" and hashtag "#SuperStormSandy” used to share information about the

storm via social media. Overall, the group helped mobilize volunteers, identify

community needs in near real time, and share information; recommendations for future

use of social media as a tool in emergency management are provided.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (2014). Social Media and Disaster Communications Checklist.

This basic checklist can help emergency planners create a social media plan. It includes

steps to take before, during, and after a disaster and links to social media platform pages

for more information.

Bernier, S. (2013). Social Media and Disasters: Best Practices and Lessons Learned.

The author uses infographics to help provide an overview of social media use (in general)

and during the Joplin tornado, Hurricane Sandy, and the Boston Marathon bombing. A

list of lessons learned and best practices close the presentation.

Bui, L. (2017). Digital Disaster Relief: Crowdsourced Responses to Hurricanes, Earthquakes,

and Floods Around the World. PLoS Blogs.

The author explains how crowdsourcing, social media monitoring, and other tools can

help disaster responders quickly collect information and tailor their on-ground response.

These tools can also help volunteers contribute online or help onsite. Links to several

tools are provided.

Chiodo, K., LaForce, S., and Lippincott, B. (2017). ADA National Network Learning Session:

Clear & Effective Emergency Communications over Wireless Devices.

This hour-long webinar can help emergency responders tailor their social media

messages to ensure they are reaching community members with disabilities. Links to

transcripts, PowerPoint presentations, and audio and video files are provided.

Dornsife School of Public Health. (n.d.). Social Media Message Library. (Accessed 2/7/2018.)

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Emergency planners can access and customize sample messages and posts for the

following categories/populations: Natural Disasters, Infectious Diseases, Accidental

Disasters, Intentional Disasters, and Individuals with Access and Functional Needs.

Sample messages are provided in three main categories: general updates, response, and

recovery.

Federal Emergency Management Agency. (2013). IS-42: Social Media in Emergency

Management.

This interactive, web-based course covers best practices, tools, techniques, and a basic

roadmap that can help participants in emergency management build their social media

capabilities.

Genes, N., Chary, M., and Chason, K. (2014). Analysis of Twitter Users’ Sharing of Official

New York Storm Response Messages. Medicine 2.0. 3(1): e1.

The authors analyzed tweets disseminated by New York State and City agencies during

two storms (Superstorm Sandy and winter blizzard Nemo) to determine which were

retweeted most frequently. The most retweeted tweets used simpler wording and shared

general tips or photos versus actionable information. These finding suggest that

emergency managers consider sharing a variety of information via social media in the

event of a disaster.

Hart, M., Stetten, N., Islam, S., and Pizarro, K. (2017). Twitter and Public Health (Part 2):

Qualitative Analysis of How Individual Health Professionals Outside Organizations Use

Microblogging to Promote and Disseminate Health-Related Information. JMIR Public

Health and Surveillance. 3(4): e54.

The authors examined more than 15,000 tweets to understand how public health

professionals used Twitter. Messages were broken into four themes: 1) inform and

educate, 2) monitor health statuses and trends, 3) communicate about social justice, and

4) increase professional development.

Simon, T., Goldberg, A., and Adini, B. (2015). Socializing in Emergencies—A Review of the

Use of Social Media in Emergency Situations. International Journal of Information

Management. 35(5): 609-619.

The authors reviewed the literature on the use of social media in emergencies between

2007 and 2014. They highlight how various tools are used by the public, emergency

organizations, and academic institutions.

Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Atlantic. (2013). Innovative Uses of Social Media in

Emergency Management. U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

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Several case studies (and figures and statistics) highlight how social media was used by

government organizations, news outlets, charity organizations, and community members

to share information during disasters.

Sutton, J., Spiro, E., Johnson, B., and Butts, C. (2013). Following the Bombing.

Readers must click on the “Research Highlights” tab to access this article that describes

how Twitter was used in the week after the Boston Marathon bombing (while the

suspects were at large and the city was on lockdown).

U.S. Department of Homeland Security. (2017). Best Practices for Incorporating Social Media

into Exercises: Social Media Working Group for Emergency Services and Disaster

Management and DHS (Department of Homeland Security) S&T (Science and

Technology) First Responders Group.

This course teaches emergency planners about best practices for integrating social media

into exercises and explains why social media should be a part of all aspects of disaster

planning. It also highlights challenges associated with integrating social media into

exercises and training.

U.S. Department of Homeland Security. (2014). Using Social Media for Enhanced Situational

Awareness and Decision Support. Virtual Social Media Working Group and DHS First

Responders Group.

Emergency planners can use the guidance in this document to better understand the use of

social media in developing situational awareness (e.g., monitoring, crowdsourcing, and

intelligence gathering), and analyzing data (e.g., baseline vs. event detection, and trend

analysis). Other sections discuss challenges associated with technology (e.g., the use of

third-party platforms, lapses in time and space) and information (e.g., aggregating and

filtering, verifying, and integrating).

U.S. Department of Homeland Security. (2016). From Concept to Reality: Operationalizing

Social Media for Preparedness, Response and Recovery. Virtual Social Media Working

Group and DHS First Responders Group.

The authors explain how responders can use social media to facilitate decision making

during fast-paced disaster responses. Sections on operationalizing social media into

incident command, the long-term use of social media, and challenges associated with

using social media can help planners form their agency’s policies. Case studies are

provided at the end of the report.

Williams, R., Williams, G., and Burton, D. (2012). The Use of Social Media for Disaster

Recovery. University of Missouri Extension.

The authors share lessons they learned from creating and maintaining the "Joplin

Tornado Info" and "Branson Tornado Info" Facebook pages. The guidance in this

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document can help emergency managers set up their own social media platforms and

draft messages before an incident occurs.

Education and Training

Center for Homeland Defense and Security. (2016). Social Network Analysis: An Introduction.

This five-module course provides an overview of social network analysis, how it differs

from standard approaches, and what some of the misconceptions are. It also looks at basic

terms and concepts that underlie social network analysis.

* Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2012). CDC’s Guide to Writing for Social Media.

Emergency planners can use the guidance in this document to: learn about social media;

understand their audiences; write for Facebook and Twitter; develop text messages; and

base social media on existing web page content. Sample “hands-on” activities are

provided, where readers have the chance to revise draft messages. A checklist, glossary,

and links to helpful resources are also included.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2014). CDC’s Crisis and Emergency Risk

Communication: Social Media and Mobile Devices.

CDC’s Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication (CERC) manual provides an

integrated model for public health professionals to communicate effectively during an

emergency. The chapter on social media and mobile devices covers social media’s role

with mainstream media, its role in a crisis, and responding to social media regarding

serious errors, myths, and misperceptions.

Chiodo, K., LaForce, S., and Lippincott, B. (2017). ADA National Network Learning Session:

Clear & Effective Emergency Communications over Wireless Devices.

This hour-long webinar can help emergency responders tailor their social media

messages to ensure they are reaching community members with disabilities. Links to

transcripts, PowerPoint presentations, and audio and video files are provided.

Federal Emergency Management Agency. (n.d.). List of Commonly Used Social Media Sites,

Platforms, and Tools by Emergency Managers. (Accessed 2/15/2018.).

This list can help emergency planners learn more about these social media platforms:

blogs, microblogging (e.g., Twitter), common social media sites (e.g., Facebook), media

sharing sites (e.g., Flickr) wikis, monitoring and aggregating sites, and social media

influence ranking sites. Information on costs, main features, and important notes are

provided for each platform.

Federal Emergency Management Agency. (2013). IS-42: Social Media in Emergency

Management.

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This interactive, web-based course covers best practices, tools, techniques, and a basic

roadmap that can help participants in emergency management build their social media

capabilities.

International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. (2017). How to Use Social

Media to Better Engage People Affected by Crisis.

This hour-long webinar provides a summary and strategies that can help emergency

responders and charitable agencies use social media to engage disaster survivors. The

web page includes links to a question and answer document and other related resources.

Lakey, V. (n.d.). Breaking News: PIO and Social Media Roles in Emergency Management and

Response. (Accessed 2/20/2018.)

This presentation can help public information officers (PIO) understand and prepare to

use social media in an emergency situation. The speaker provides an overview of crisis

communication and the role of a PIO, explains to role of social media and associated

challenges, and shares actual examples of PIOs using social media to inform the

communities they serve.

* National Center for Disaster Preparedness. (2018). Visualizing Social Media: New Tools for

Research and Practice. Earth Institute, Columbia University.

This webpage provides links to the center’s free courses on social media and related

articles, reports, and tools.

National Disaster Preparedness Training Center. (2017). Social Media for Natural Disaster

Response and Recovery (PER-304). University of Hawaii.

This 8-hour instructor-led course teaches participants how to use social media to

recognize warning signs, disseminate messages, and monitor and analyze social media

traffic.

National Disaster Preparedness Training Center. (2017). Social Media Tools and Techniques

(PER-344). University of Hawaii.

This 8-hour course builds upon PER-304 and helps participants develop messages for

different audiences and understand the benefits of crowdsourcing and data mining.

National Disaster Preparedness Training Center. (2018). PER-TBD Social Media Engagement

Strategies. University of Hawaii.

This 8-hour, instructor-led course prepares participants to engage individuals and

volunteer organizations through social media, especially in the context of disaster

preparedness and response.

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U.S. Department of Homeland Security. (2017). Best Practices for Incorporating Social Media

into Exercises. Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Social Media

Working Group for Emergency Services and Disaster Management.

This report teaches emergency planners about best practices for integrating social media

into exercises and explains why social media should be a part of all aspects of disaster

planning. It also highlights challenges associated with integrating social media into

exercises and training.

General Guidance

* Bernier, S. (2013). Social Media and Disasters: Best Practices and Lessons Learned.

The author uses infographics to help provide an overview of social media use (in general)

and during the Joplin tornado, Hurricane Sandy, and the Boston Marathon bombing. A

list of lessons learned and best practices close the presentation.

Bouri, N., Minton, K., Jolani, N., and Rubin, S. (2014). Riding the Mobile Wave. UPMC Center

for Health Security.

The authors interviewed local health departments to better understand their experiences

using social media. They identified the main factors influencing use of social media and

listed recommendations for local health practitioners and policymakers.

* Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2012). CDC’s Guide to Writing for Social Media.

Emergency planners can use the guidance in this document to: learn about social media;

understand their audiences; write for Facebook and Twitter; develop text messages; and

base social media on existing web page content. Sample “hands-on” activities are

provided, where readers have the chance to revise draft messages. A checklist, glossary,

and links to helpful resources are also included.

Committee on Public Response to Alerts and Warnings on Mobile Devices: Current Knowledge

and Research Gaps; National Research Council. (2011). Public Response to Alerts and

Warnings on Mobile Devices: Summary of a Workshop on Current Knowledge and

Research Gaps.

This book provides a summary of conference proceedings where risk communications

experts discussed the public response to mobile alerts.

Facebook. (n.d.). Prepare & Respond. Tips for Individuals, Groups and Communities to Get the

Most Out of Facebook Before, During and After Disasters. (Accessed 2/21/2018.)

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Information is split into four categories: tips for response and relief organizations, tips for

first responders and government agencies, tips for individuals and communities, and

Facebook crisis response products.

Federal Communications Commission. (2016.) Social Media & Complementary Alerting

Methods – CSRIC V Final Report.

The FCC states that this report has two goals: to advocate for complementary alerting via

social media and emphasize the potential opportunity and advantages for social media

platforms in emergency alerting. Section 5.2 highlights the advantages of using social

media and 5.3 explains challenges and opportunities.

* National Center for Disaster Preparedness. (2018). Visualizing Social Media: New Tools for

Research and Practice. Earth Institute, Columbia University.

This webpage provides links to the center’s free courses on social media and related

articles, reports, and tools.

National Institute of Standards and Technology. (n.d.). Development of Guidance for

Community-Wide Public Alerts in Emergencies. (Accessed 2/21/2018.)

This resource describes how the National Institute of Standards and Technology is

working with the National Fire Protection Association on: “1) the use of outdoor siren

systems as alerts; 2) the use of “short messages” as alerts provided via social media and

other short message service (SMS) platforms, and 3) the use of social media for warning

in disaster response and providing updates during disaster recovery.”

* National Research Council. (2013). Public Response to Alerts and Warnings Using Social

Media: Report of a Workshop on Current Knowledge and Research Gaps. The National

Academies Press.

This report summarizes presentations made at a 2012 workshop organized by the

Committee on Public Response to Alerts and Warnings Using Social Media. Chapters

cover the fundamentals of alerts, warnings, and social media, how social media has been

used in emergencies by local agencies, the dynamics of social media, message credibility,

privacy and legal issues, and research gaps and other challenges.

Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response. (2017). Community Health

Resilience in Action: Toolkits for Faith-Based, Youth and Other Community

Organizations. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Health professionals and members of the communities they serve can use the guidance in

these documents to learn more about the intersection of national health security and

community engagement. The section on social media activities explains the utility of

social media, ways to use video to highlight local activities, and how to optimize

community-based platforms.

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U.S. Department of Homeland Security. (2014). Using Social Media for Enhanced Situational

Awareness and Decision Support. Virtual Social Media Working Group and DHS First

Responders Group.

Emergency planners can use the guidance in this document to better understand the use of

social media in developing situational awareness (e.g., monitoring, crowdsourcing, and

intelligence gathering), and analyzing data (e.g., baseline vs. event detection, and trend

analysis). Other sections discuss challenges associated with technology (e.g., the use of

third-party platforms, lapses in time and space) and information (e.g., aggregating and

filtering, verifying, and integrating).

U.S. Department of Homeland Security. (2016). From Concept to Reality: Operationalizing

Social Media for Preparedness, Response and Recovery. Virtual Social Media Working

Group and DHS First Responders Group.

The authors explain how responders can use social media to facilitate decision making

during fast-paced disaster responses. Sections on operationalizing social media into

incident command, the long-term use of social media, and challenges associated with

using social media can help planners form their agency’s policies. Case studies are

provided at the end of the report.

* U.S. Department of Homeland Security. (2017). Best Practices for Incorporating Social Media

into Exercises: Social Media Working Group for Emergency Services and Disaster

Management and DHS (Department of Homeland Security) S&T (Science and

Technology) First Responders Group.

This report can help emergency planners learn more about best practices for integrating

social media into exercises and explains why social media should be a part of all aspects

of disaster planning. It also highlights recent examples and challenges associated with

integrating social media into exercises and training.

* U.S. Department of Homeland Security. (2017). Project Responder 5.

Project Responder can help prioritize capability needs for emergency response to critical

incidents. The fifth iteration of this series is based on lessons learned by responders who

worked some of the largest disasters in the U.S. over the past several years. The benefits,

challenges, and lessons learned from resident and responder use of social media are

interwoven throughout the document.

* Williams, R., Williams, G., and Burton, D. (2012). The Use of Social Media for Disaster

Recovery. University of Missouri Extension.

The authors share lessons they learned from creating and maintaining the "Joplin

Tornado Info" and "Branson Tornado Info" Facebook pages. The guidance in this

10

document can help emergency managers set up their own social media platforms and

draft messages before an incident occurs.

Lessons Learned: Floods

Bosch, D. (2017). Use of Social Media and E-Government in Disasters: 2016 Louisiana Floods

Case Study. (Abstract only.) Journal of Emergency Management. 15(6): 391-405.

The author discusses the strengths and challenges of social media use after the floods that

struck Louisiana in 2016. Based on a small survey he conducted, he found that the use of

social media increased while more traditional communication channels were

compromised. Survey respondents were neutral or dissatisfied with the level of federal

government engagement via social media.

Scott, K. and Errett, N. (2017). Content, Accessibility, and Dissemination of Disaster

Information via Social Media During the 2016 Louisiana Floods. (Abstract only.) Journal

of Public Health Management and Practice.

The authors analyzed Facebook and Twitter posts made by federal, state, and local

government agencies (including public health and emergency management) before,

during, and after the flooding events. They scored each post using accessibility and

dissemination scales and found that most posts were related to situational awareness and

recovery.

Lessons Learned: General

Bates, M. (2017). Tracking Disease: Digital Epidemiology Offers New Promise in Predicting

Outbreaks. IEEE Pulse.

Web-based platforms have increased in use and utility when it comes to mining data for

disease outbreaks. The author provides an overview of the use of these platforms to

collect information and quickly identify areas of need. The author also presents several

challenges associated with collecting this type of information (e.g., privacy, skewed data,

and identifying the key words to include while monitoring).

Becker, D. and Bendett, S. (2015). Crowdsourcing Solutions For Disaster Response: Examples

And Lessons For The US Government. Procedia Engineering. 107: 27-33.

Several examples of how a Department of Defense project used crowdsourcing data to

provide tailored, quick disaster aid are presented in this article. Transformative

Innovation for Development and Emergency Support, or TIDES, collects data from its

network of federal, military, and civilian contacts, international counterparts, and private,

public, and non-government-sector organizations, start-ups and individuals.

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Callcut, R., Moore, S., Wakam, G., et al. (2017). Finding the Signal in the Noise: Could Social

Media be Utilized for Early Hospital Notification of Multiple Casualty Events? PLoS

One. 12(10).

Analyzing tweets from the day of select recent U.S. mass casualty events through seven

days post-event revealed that a 200 tweets/minute threshold was reached fastest after the

Napa earthquake, followed by the Boston Marathon bombing and the San Francisco

plane crash. The authors explained that this threshold could have been used as a signaling

mechanism to place local hospitals on standby for possible large scale events, since the

messaging preceded patient arrival in all cases they studied.

Committee on Public Response to Alerts and Warnings on Mobile Devices: Current Knowledge

and Research Gaps; National Research Council. (2011). Public Response to Alerts and

Warnings on Mobile Devices: Summary of a Workshop on Current Knowledge and

Research Gaps. (Free registration required for download.)

This book provides a summary of conference proceedings where risk communications

experts discussed the public response to mobile alerts.

Dave, A. (2017). Digital Humanitarians: How Big Data Is Changing the Face of Humanitarian

Response. (Book Review.) Journal of Bioethical Inquiry. 14(4): 567-569.

The author reviews Patrick Meier’s book which begins by sharing how a “crisis map”

was used by “digital volunteers” to mark the hardest hit areas in Haiti after the 2010

earthquake. This allowed U.S. search and rescue teams to be more timely and efficient.

Meier also highlights the downsides of post-disaster social media, including users with

large followings sharing false information, the lack of access to social media, and lack of

disaster survivor privacy (associated, for example, with the increase in drone usage).

Eckert, S., Sopory, P., Day, A., et al. (2017). Health-Related Disaster Communication and Social

Media: Mixed-Method Systematic Review. (Abstract only.) Health Communication.

The authors reviewed literature on disasters across the globe from 2003-2016 to

determine the best social media practices that could encourage health protection and

dispel rumors. They emphasized that governmental agencies should use social media

(especially Twitter and Facebook) daily and during emergencies. They also noted a

dearth of research pertaining to who is reached by social media versus who needs to be

reached by other communication channels.

Fraustino, J.D., Liu, B., and Jin, Y. (2012). Social Media Use during Disasters: A Review of the

Knowledge Base and Gaps. U.S. Department of Homeland Security. College Park, MD:

START.

The authors examine the public’s use of social media (in general and during disasters),

including what encourages and deters its use. They discuss how to evaluate the use of

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social media and explain the difference between active and passive use. Examples from

recent incidents are included throughout the report.

Morrow, N., Mock, N., Papendieck, A., and Kocmich, N. (2011). Independent Evaluation of the

Ushahidi Haiti Project.

This volunteer-driven project produced a crisis map after a devastating earthquake struck

Halite in 2010. The authors share lessons learned and recommendations for improving

data collection and the use of social media.

* National Research Council. (2013). Public Response to Alerts and Warnings Using Social

Media: Report of a Workshop on Current Knowledge and Research Gaps. The National

Academies Press.

This report summarizes presentations made at a 2012 workshop organized by the

Committee on Public Response to Alerts and Warnings Using Social Media. Chapters

cover the fundamentals of alerts, warnings, and social media, how social media has been

used in emergencies by local agencies, the dynamics of social media, message credibility,

privacy and legal issues, and research gaps and other challenges.

Plotnick, L., Hiltz, S.R., Kushma, J., and Tapia, A. (2015). Red Tape: Attitudes and Issues

Related to Use of Social Media by U.S. County-Level Emergency Managers. Proceedings

of the ISCRAM 2015 Conference.

According to the authors, a 2014 survey indicated that only half of the county-level U.S.

emergency managers who participated in a survey reported using social media. Many did

not have formal social media policies; a quarter of the agencies who had policies were

forbidden from using social media. The authors discuss these and other barriers, how

social media is used by other agencies, and steps for improving its use.

Simon, T., Goldberg, A., and Adini, B. (2015). Socializing in Emergencies—A Review of the

Use of Social Media in Emergency Situations. International Journal of Information

Management. 35(5): 609-619.

The authors reviewed the literature on the use of social media in emergencies between

2007 and 2014. They highlight how various tools are used by the public, emergency

organizations, and academic institutions.

Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Atlantic. (2013). Innovative Uses of Social Media in

Emergency Management. U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Several case studies (and figures and statistics) highlight how social media was used by

government organizations, news outlets, charity organizations, and community members

to share information during disasters.

Stephens, K. (2013). #SMEM Challenge for 2013: What do I Post? Are You Ready to be

Amazing? idisaster 2.0.

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The author shares several actual examples of social media posts, highlighting how they

address three key areas of communication: “coordination with response partners,

managing public expectations, and being creative enough to get the public’s attention.”

* U.S. Department of Homeland Security. (2017). Project Responder 5.

Project Responder can help prioritize capability needs for emergency response to critical

incidents. The fifth iteration of this series is based on lessons learned by responders who

worked some of the largest disasters in the U.S. over the past several years. The benefits,

challenges, and lessons learned from resident and responder use of social media are

interwoven throughout the document.

Lessons Learned: Hurricanes

Ambinder, E., Jennings, D., Blachman-Biatch, I., et al. (2013). The Resilient Social Network.

@OccupySandy #SuperstormSandy. Homeland Security Studies and Analysis Institute.

The authors researched and developed a case study on the impact of the group "Occupy

Sandy" (which grew from the Occupy Wall Street movement), the Twitter handle

"@OccupySandy" and hashtag "#SuperStormSandy” used to share information about the

storm via social media. Overall, the group helped mobilize volunteers, identify

community needs in near real time, and share information; recommendations for future

use of social media as a tool in emergency management are provided.

Bennett, K.J., Olsen, J.M., Harris, S., et al. (2013). The Perfect Storm of Information: Combining

Traditional and Non-traditional Data Sources for Public Health Situational Awareness

During Hurricane Response. PLOS Currents Disasters.

Can non-traditional data (e.g., tweets) supplement traditional data reporting during

hurricane response? The authors examined tweets, news reports, press releases, and

federal situation reports during the Hurricane Isaac response in 2012 to measure

“Essential Elements of Information.” Their findings highlighted the utility of non-

traditional data sources in disaster response.

* Bernier, S. (2013). Social Media and Disasters: Best Practices and Lessons Learned.

The author uses infographics to help provide an overview of social media use (in general)

and during the Joplin tornado, Hurricane Sandy, and the Boston Marathon bombing. A

list of lessons learned and best practices close the presentation.

* Genes, N., Chary, M., and Chason, K. (2014). Analysis of Twitter Users’ Sharing of Official

New York Storm Response Messages. Medicine 2.0. 3(1): e1.

The authors analyzed tweets disseminated by New York State and City agencies during

two storms (Superstorm Sandy and winter blizzard Nemo) to determine which were

14

retweeted most frequently. The most retweeted tweets used simpler wording and shared

general tips or photos versus actionable information. These finding suggest that

emergency managers consider sharing a variety of information via social media in the

event of a disaster.

Gruebner, O., Lowe, S., Sykora, M., et al. (2017). A Novel Surveillance Approach for Disaster

Mental Health. PLoS One. 12(7).

The authors used “advanced sentiment analysis” to examine tweets posted over an 11 day

period before, during, and after Hurricane Sandy to highlight basic emotions and

determine if they could map excess risk of these emotions. Their analysis revealed spatial

clusters and they encourage further study that could help quickly identify community

areas where behavioral health assistance is most needed.

Gubbins, T. and Cozijnsen, R. (2017). Emergency Communications in the Era of Social Media.

Presspage.

Social media facilitated emergency communications during Hurricanes Harvey and Irma.

The authors highlight how residents used it to request rescue and how responders used it

to stay connected when more traditional means of communication were temporarily

unavailable.

Harris Smith, S., Bennett, K.J., and Livinski, A.A. (2014). Evolution of a Search: The Use of

Dynamic Twitter Searches During Superstorm Sandy. PLOS Currents Disasters.

The authors explain how the use of a Twitter list combined with Boolean searches helped

the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office of the Assistant

Secretary for Preparedness and Response increased situational awareness and improved

the HHS response to Hurricane Sandy.

Kryvasheyeu, Y., Chen, H., Obradovich, N., et al. (2016). Rapid Assessment of Disaster Damage

Using Social Media Activity. Science Advances. 2(3).

The authors analyzed Twitter activity before, during, and after Hurricane Sandy and

found that physical disaster effects and real and perceived threats can be observed by

studying the intensity and makeup of Twitter’s streams. Emergency managers could use

social media data to quickly assess disaster-related damage in their jurisdictions.

Spiro, E., Sutton, J., Johnson, B., et al. (2012). Superstorm Sandy: Looking at the Twitter

Response. Online Research Highlight.

Clicking on the tab “Research Highlights” takes readers to this article with graphics that

illustrate how social media was used before, during, and after Superstorm Sandy.

Graphics show the number of tweets per hour, a word cloud, how 103 professional

organizations tweeted during the event, and how the number of followers increased for

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seven specific accounts (e.g., the American Red Cross North Jersey Region, conEdison,

and FEMA Region 2).

Stephens, K. (2012). One County’s Social Media Stats: Hurricane Sandy. idisaster 2.0.

The author comments on analyses of Fairfax County Virginia’s Office of Public Affairs

social media posts (and public reception) during Hurricanes Irene (2011) and Sandy

(2012). Links to related resources are provided.

U.S. Department of Homeland Security. (2013). Lessons Learned: Social Media and Hurricane

Sandy. Virtual Social Media Working Group and DHS First Responders Group.

This report shares how social media was used before, during, and in recovery from

Hurricane Sandy. It includes best practices, lessons learned, gaps, and issues for further

consideration identified by the first responder community.

Lessons Learned: Infectious Diseases

Al-Surimi, K., Khalifa, M., Bahkali, S., et al. (2017). The Potential of Social Media and Internet-

Based Data in Preventing and Fighting Infectious Diseases: From Internet to Twitter.

(Abstract only.) Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology. 972: 131-139.

The authors describe the role social media can play in tracking, communicating about,

and reporting emerging infectious diseases (e.g., Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome,

Ebola, and Zika).

Barata, G., Shores, K., and Alperin, L. (2018). Local Chatter or International Buzz? Language

Differences on Posts about Zika Research on Twitter and Facebook. PLoS One. 13(1).

A study of zika-related social media found that while most posts are in English, Facebook

posts are more likely than tweets to be in a study author’s primary language. The authors

of this article suggest Facebook is a more effective way to communicate in native

languages of affected countries.

Hadi, T. and Fleshler, K. (2016). Integrating Social Media Monitoring Into Public Health

Emergency Response Operations. Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness. 1-

6.

The authors describe how they used social media monitoring during public health

emergency responses in New York City, including Ebola and Legionnaire’s responses

and for planned events. They offer concepts and implementations that can be applied to

other agencies who want to build a social media monitoring team.

Hadi, T., MacGregor, J., and Lauren, M. (2017). Social Media Monitoring: 2016 Zika Response

in NYC. Health Security. 15(4).

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This article highlights how the New York City Social Media Monitoring Team (SMMT)

coordinated the 2016 Zika planning and response efforts. The authors encourage local

health departments leading or supporting emergency response to dedicate staff to

monitoring social media to improve real-time situational awareness and understanding of

public perception.

Hart, M., Stetten, N., Islam, S., and Pizarro, K. (2017). Twitter and Public Health (Part 2):

Qualitative Analysis of How Individual Health Professionals Outside Organizations Use

Microblogging to Promote and Disseminate Health-Related Information. JMIR Public

Health and Surveillance. 3(4): e54.

The authors examined more than 15,000 tweets to understand how public health

professionals used Twitter. Messages were broken into four themes: 1) inform and

educate, 2) monitor health statuses and trends, 3) communicate about social justice, and

4) increase professional development.

Hurst, N. (2018). Can Social Media Help Us Spot Vaccine Scares and Predict Outbreaks?

Smithsonian.com.

The author shares information gathered from the 2015 Disneyland measles outbreak and

highlights pros and cons associated with using social media to measure and track vaccine

acceptance/doubt and anticipate disease peaks.

Lazer, D. and Kennedy, R. (2015). What We Can Learn From the Epic Failure of Google Flu

Trends. Wired.

The authors examine the miscalculation of Google Flu Trends in 2013 and explain the

challenges and potential associated with using Big Data to predict and monitor disease.

Liu, B. and Kim, S. (2011). How Organizations Framed the 2009 H1N1 Pandemic Via Social

and Traditional Media: Implications for U.S. Health Communicators. (Abstract only.)

Public Relations Review. 37(3): 233-244.

Public health organizations used a mix of social media and traditional channels to

communicate with the community during the 2009 H1N1 pandemic. Researchers found

that while social media linked to traditional media, the reverse was not true. They also

found that traditional media was still relied on more to provide more comprehensive

information.

Marchette, D. and Hohman, E. (2015). Using Twitter to Detect and Investigate Disease

Outbreaks. (Abstract only.) Online Journal of Public Health Informatics. 7(1): e147.

The authors describe how they aggregated and filtered Twitter data to identify “events”—

data with an unusual count that is then assessed by an analyst. They then used this

method to analyze social media surrounding the Boston Marathon bombing, New Year’s

festivities, and the Ebola outbreak.

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Signorini, A., Segre, A., and Polgreen, P. (2011). The Use of Twitter to Track Levels of Disease

Activity and Public Concern in the U.S. during the Influenza A H1N1 Pandemic. PLoS

One.

The authors used data derived from Twitter to track two things: public sentiment specific

to H1N1 (swine flu) and actual disease activity. They found that their estimates of

influenza-like illness matched reported disease levels.

Smolinski, M. (2017). How Crowd-Sourcing Technology is Monitoring Zika and Other Health

Conditions During the Olympics. The Blog, Huffington Post.

Health officials in Brazil sponsored the development of Guardiões da Saúde, an app

(available in seven languages) that monitored the health of participating citizens and

visitors to the Olympics. Users would answer questions about their health on a daily basis

and the app provided information about care and prevention.

Wong, R., Harris, J., Staub, M., and Bernhardt, J. (2017). Local Health Departments Tweeting

About Ebola: Characteristics and Messaging. (Abstract only.) Journal of Public Health

Management and Practice. 23(2): e16-e24.

The study team collected all Ebola-related tweets sent by nearly 300 local health

departments (LHDs) across the U.S. from September 3 to November 2, 2014 and

analyzed their characteristics. The majority of Ebola tweets provided information, and the

rest shared information on preparedness or shared news or promoted events. The authors

recommend that LHDs use Twitter during public health emergencies “to ensure timeline

dissemination of critical information.”

Lessons Learned: Mass Violence

* Bernier, S. (2013). Social Media and Disasters: Best Practices and Lessons Learned. American

Red Cross.

The author provides an overview of social media use during the Joplin tornado,

Superstorm Sandy, and the Boston Marathon bombing. A list of lessons learned and best

practices are also provided. A local reporter’s Twitter handle’s following grew by more

than 2000%; the Boston Police Department’s handle following grew by 500%.

Straub, F., Cambria, J., Castor, J., et al. (2017). Rescue, Response, and Resilience: A Critical

Incident Review of the Orlando Public Safety Response to the Attack on the Pulse

Nightclub. Office of Community Oriented Policing Services.

This comprehensive report describes the unified response the City of Orlando carried out

during and after the Orlando Pulse nightclub attack. While slightly more focused on law

enforcement, the report shares numerous lessons learned from several perspectives,

including: leadership and relationships; media and public information (e.g., the use of

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social media and the importance of having one organization responsible for sharing

information via one platform); and community engagement and relationships.

Sutton, J., Johnson, B., Spiro, E., and Butts, C. (2013). Tweeting What Matters: Information,

Advisories, and Alerts Following the Boston Marathon Events.

Clicking on the tab “Research Highlights” takes readers to this article which focuses on

guidance provided via Twitter after the Boston Marathon bombing. Guidance is grouped

into themes (e.g., evacuation/shelter and advisory) and graphed by which of the seven

organizational sectors tweeted about it (crisis, health, environment, law enforcement,

government/elected officials, transportation, and other).

Sutton, J., Spiro, E., Johnson, B., and Butts, C. (2013). Following the Bombing.

Readers must click on the “Research Highlights” tab to access this article on Twitter was

used in the week after the Boston Marathon bombing (while the suspects were at large

and the city was on lockdown).

Wolff-Mann, E. (2016). Facebook Activated Its Safety Check for the First Time in the U.S.

Time.

This article provides a short overview of the feature and describes how it was used after

the Orlando Pulse nightclub shooting.

Lessons Learned: Tornadoes

* Bernier, S. (2013). Social Media and Disasters: Best Practices and Lessons Learned.

The author uses infographics to help provide an overview of social media use (in general)

and during the Joplin tornado, Hurricane Sandy, and the Boston Marathon bombing. A

list of lessons learned and best practices close the presentation.

Stephens, K. (2011). Joplin Tornado Demonstrates Social Media’s 5 Key Roles in Disaster

Response and Recovery. idisaster 2.0.

Social media was used after the tornado to: document the event, enable survivors to list

themselves as safe (and find their loved ones), provide survivors with information on

getting assistance, and help survivors locate lost items (e.g., pets and medical records).

* Williams, R., Williams, G., and Burton, D. (2012). The Use of Social Media for Disaster

Recovery. University of Missouri Extension.

The authors share lessons they learned from creating and maintaining the "Joplin

Tornado Info" and "Branson Tornado Info" Facebook pages. The guidance in this

document can help emergency managers set up their own social media platforms and

draft messages before an incident occurs.

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Lessons Learned: Wildfires

Spiro, E., Sutton, J., Johnson, B., et al. (2012). HEROIC Team Explores Waldo Canyon Wildfire

in Colorado.

Clicking on the tab “Research Highlights” takes readers to this article which focuses on

how social media was used during one of the most expensive fires in Colorado’s history.

Animated figures illustrate communication to and from official government organizations

by date, and other graphics show how tweets were retweeted before and during the event

(most organizations used Twitter to communicate).

Zhong, X., Duckham, M., Chong, D, and Tolhurst, K. (2016). Real-Time Estimation of Wildfire

Perimeters from Curated Crowdsourcing. Scientific Reports. 6: 24206.

The authors describe an automated technique for real-time tracking of wildfire perimeters

based on publicly available crowdsourced data collected from telephone calls to

emergency services. This data allowed them to detect and track perimeters in real time,

accurately, in two wildfires years apart.

Plans, Tools, and Templates

APCO International. (2014). Best Practices for The Use of Social Media in Public Safety

Communications.

This voluntary standard—developed with input from law enforcement, fire, and medical

emergency responders—describes how social media can and should be used during

disasters. Planners can access Chapters 6 and 8 for specific guidance on creating a social

media policy for their organization.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (2014). Social Media and Disaster Communications Checklist.

This basic checklist can help emergency planners create a social media plan. It includes

steps to take before, during, and after a disaster and links to social media platform pages

for more information.

Bui, L. (2017). Digital Disaster Relief: Crowdsourced Responses to Hurricanes, Earthquakes,

and Floods Around the World. PLoS Blogs.

The author explains how crowdsourcing, social media monitoring, and other tools can

help disaster responders quickly collect information and tailor their on-ground response.

These tools can also help volunteers contribute online or help onsite. Links to several

tools are provided.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2015). CDC Enterprise Social Media Policy.

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This policy document includes sections that emergency planners can use as guidance

when creating their own policies. Information on personal use of social media, employee

participation in social media, and review steps and levels associated with social media

channels are included, as are a list of responsibilities by role, references, and an

abbreviations list.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2016). The Health Communicator’s Social Media

Toolkit.

This toolkit (published in 2011) can help emergency managers develop a social media

program. It includes guidance on topics such as tools, creating buttons and badges,

podcasts, RSS feeds, and widgets. Links to sample accounts and other helpful resources

are also provided.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2017). Public Service Announcements for

Disasters.

This collection provides public service announcements to help communicators respond to

a wide variety of public health emergencies, including earthquakes, floods, hurricanes,

wildfires and more. Topics also include messaging around common all-hazards topics,

such as the needs of at-risk populations, safe cleanup, and safe use of medication after a

disaster. The PSAs are available in a variety of formats, including text message, short

scripts for broadcast use, short videos for use on social media and more.

Computational Epidemiology Group. (2018). HealthMap. Boston Children’s Hospital.

Using an automated process (updated continuously based on surveillance and user

feedback), this app aggregates disease outbreak data and displays it in an interactive

manner in nine languages. HealthMap runs healthmap.org and “Outbreaks Near Me,”

both of which deliver real-time intelligence on a variety of infectious diseases.

Emergency planners can use this data to identify early outbreaks, monitor trends from

several levels, and access resources related to specific diseases. Links to several “Alert

Sources” from which data are collected are also provided on the home page.

Disaster Information Management Resource Center. (2017). Disaster Apps for Your Digital Go

Bag. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

This webpage includes links to many tools first responders and other emergency

healthcare providers can use on scene and in facilities to care for disaster survivors.

Dornsife School of Public Health. (n.d.). Social Media Message Library. (Accessed 2/7/2018.)

Emergency planners can access and customize sample messages and posts for the

following categories/populations: Natural Disasters, Infectious Diseases, Accidental

Disasters, Intentional Disasters, and Individuals with Access and Functional Needs.

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Sample messages are provided in three main categories: general updates, response, and

recovery.

Dornsife School of Public Health. (n.d.). Using Social Media in a Disaster. (Accessed 2/7/2018.)

This webpage can be used as a checklist and includes lists of actions emergency planners

can take before and during a disaster to ensure their social media messages are as helpful,

timely, and informative as possible.

Hootsuite. (2018). Hootsuite.

This platform allows users to create their own dashboards and schedule and manage

social media (through various accounts and platforms while tracking mentions, hashtags,

and the like).

Humanity Road. (2018). Humanity Road.

This non-profit organization is “driven by digital volunteers” who help with disaster

preparedness and use “social listening” to identify and connect survivors to disaster

assistance. Their website includes a “Situation Reports” tab where users can access

timely reports about incidents by year, by country, or by clicking on an interactive map.

Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. (2015). Social Media Monitoring for

Emergency Managers: A Comprehensive Guide. Syracuse University.

This highly visual report is structured around three key stages about monitoring social

media before, during, and after an emergency. Each phase includes suggestions for

implementation, key lessons learned, and examples.

National Association of County and City Health Officials. (2014). Pandemics Detected Using

Digital Tools in Public Health.

The speakers in this 17 minute video share how local health departments can use social

media platforms like Facebook to identify pandemics or other illness outbreaks in

communities, allowing them to more quickly address threats and care for and

communicate with residents.

Pennsylvania Department of Health. (2013). Communications Toolkit for Public Health

Emergencies that Impact Children: Resources for Pediatric Practices, Schools, and

Childcare Programs.

Pages 20-23 of this toolkit provide an overview of using social media before, during, and

after an event and include checklists sample posts (based on a pandemic influenza

outbreak).

Periscope. (2018). Periscope.

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Users can search and view live video via desktop or mobile devices. Results are grouped

into channels, but users can also search by hashtags.

Twitter. (2018). TweetDeck.

TweetDeck allows users to customize their Twitter experience (e.g., build and organize

collections), track specific topics, events, and hashtags, and manage multiple accounts.

U.S. Department of Homeland Security. (2012). Social Media Strategy. Virtual Social Media

Working Group and DHS First Responders Group.

In addition to listing the benefits and challenges associated with implementing social

media for public safety (including public health, emergency management, fire, and law

enforcement), this document includes links to examples for each type of platform (e.g.,

mobile texting, Twitter profiles, Facebook, LinkedIn, photo and video sharing).

* U.S. Department of Homeland Security. (2017). Best Practices for Incorporating Social Media

into Exercises: Social Media Working Group for Emergency Services and Disaster

Management and DHS (Department of Homeland Security) S&T (Science and

Technology) First Responders Group.

This report can help emergency planners learn more about best practices for integrating

social media into exercises and explains why social media should be a part of all aspects

of disaster planning. It also highlights recent examples and challenges associated with

integrating social media into exercises and training.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for

Preparedness and Response. (2018). NowTrending.

This web-based application searches open source Twitter data for health topics, notably

infectious disease outbreaks, and delivers analyses of that data for both a specified

geographic area and the national level.

United Nations Institute for Training and Research’s Operational Satellite Applications

Programme. (2018). GeoTag-X.

This tool (mainly used internationally at this time) collects and analyzes photographs of

disaster-affected areas, allowing responders and relief organizations the opportunity to

customize their response. Volunteers are given a tutorial for locating, contributing, and

analyzing photos that are grouped into projects.

Agencies and Organizations

Note: The agencies and organizations listed in this section have a page, program, or specific

research dedicated to this topic area.

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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Health Communicator’s Social Media Toolkit.

Disaster Response on Facebook.

Hazards, Emergency Response, and Online Informal Communication (HEROIC).

HealthMap.

Humanity Road.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for

Preparedness and Response. NowTrending.

U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Social Media Working Group for Emergency Services

and Disaster Management Program.

This ASPR TRACIE Topic Collection was comprehensively reviewed in February 2018 by the

following subject matter experts (listed in alphabetical order):

Kelly Bennett, MPH, Data and Analytics Branch Chief, U.S. Department of Health and Human

Services (HHS), Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR),

Division of Fusion; Suzanne Bernier, CEM, CBCP, MBCI, President, SB Crisis Consulting;

Pete Brewster, Program Manager, Office of Emergency Management, Veterans Health

Administration; John Hick, MD, HHS ASPR and Hennepin County Medical Center; Elizabeth

Jarrett, M.A., Public Affairs Specialist, HHS ASPR; Caitlyn Lutfy, MPH, Health

Communication Specialist, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); Dave Nichols,

CEM, Medical Reserve & Workforce Deployment Manager, Public Health Preparedness, Public

Health Seattle & King County (WA); Sarah Perlstein, MPP, Contract Support, Department of

Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T); Barbara Reynolds,

Ph.D., Director of Public Affairs, CDC; Mary Russell, EdD, MSN, Healthcare Emergency

Response Coalition, Palm Beach County, Florida; Mary Kay Rutan, Communication Manager,

VA Sunshine Healthcare Network (VISN 8), U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs; Brittney

Seiler, MPA, HHS ASPR; L. Corey Sloan, M.A., M.S., EMT-P, Deputy Chief of EMS, NTA EMS

Rescue, Bethany, MO; and Christopher Tarantino, Master Exercise Practitioner, Lead

Consultant/Instructor, CEO of Epicenter Media & Training.