Online Social Networks Could Help Manage Emergencies

Online social networking sites (SNS) such as Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter could solve many problems plaguing information dissemination and communications when disaster strikes, according to a new report.

Researchers at Jacksonville State University (JSU; AL, USA) and the New Jersey Institute of Technology (Newark, USA) surveyed emergency management students to investigate whether or not the social network paradigm can be used to enable individuals and organizations to collaborate in mutually beneficial ways, in all stages of emergency management: mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery. To conduct the survey, an email with a link to the survey site was sent to emergency domain students and teachers in the US and UK.

The researchers first sent an email to four instructors in the emergency domain who then forwarded it to other instructors who were teaching relevant classes. In all, 104 email recipients viewed the survey, 80 started the survey and 72 finished, giving a 90% completion rate. All respondents knew what SNS was, and 94% were members of at least one SNS; 86% were members of Facebook and 42% had used YouTube.

The respondents listed many potential uses for an emergency domain SNS such as fast, cheap mass distribution of communications, announcements, and emergency notifications; the stimulation of research and shared ideas; enhanced networking and mass communication; implementation of reverse 911 emergency call strategies; the coordinating and managing response and recovery efforts, and job announcements and postings. Among concerns raised were information overload and the availability of the system when needed, since the Internet or the electric grid may be unavailable after an earthquake, flood, or explosion. However, the researchers stressed, in a SNS, users would be geographically dispersed and the web would still be functional in areas where there was no damage. The study was published in the December 2009 issue of the International Journal of Emergency Management.

"Expert identification, resource aggregation and availability, and mass collaboration were some of the key capabilities important to the interview respondents,” concluded lead author Connie White, Ph.D., and colleagues of the Institute for Emergency Preparedness at JSU. "However, as younger people are more likely to use such a system to its fullest capability, the acceptance of a social networking site devoted to the emergency domain may take time, as the emergency domain becomes more populated with younger professionals.”

The researchers point out that current social networks have limitations in terms of the collaborative tools available to users that might be redesigned for emergency use, especially since they were originally intended with socializing rather than emergency efforts in mind. The researchers suggest that in developing the use of online social networks, it is essential to engage emergency management personnel and their organizations in a dialog to determine their needs, and how to best serve them.

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Jacksonville State University
New Jersey Institute of Technology