The use of social media in emergencies is more good in an acute situation and reacting to empirical news and distributing the news out to individuals that need it.
A substantive comment should be approximately 300 words or more for each response (A total of 3 responses).
Read the initial comments posted by your classmates and reflect upon them.
Before writing your comments:
- Review the Discussion grading rubric to see what is expected for an excellent discussion, in order to earn full credit.
- Review some resources to help you synthesize, such as the following:
Sullivan, J. (2011). Strategies for Synthesis Writing. Retrieved from http://www.findingdulcinea.com/features/edu/Strategies-for-Synthesis-Writing.html
NOTE: You are required to cite sources and include a reference list for the second post if it is simply your opinion. However, if your opinion is based on facts (as it should be), it is good practice to strengthen your position by citing sources.
Be sure to meet all of the criteria in the rubric, as noted in the instructions above.
Third post for each module discussion:
Read the initial and secondary comments posted by your classmates and reflect upon them.
Directly respond to at least one classmate in a way that extends meaningful discussions, adds new information, and/or offers alternative perspectives.
Comment on those provided by your cohorts.
Note: Some expressions may be politically sensitive. It is not the intent of this exercise to stir controversy.
MY POST
DO NOT RESPOND
DO NOT RESPOND
Classmates and Professor,
Social media refers to applications and websites that allow users to make and share information and participate in social networking. Currently, social media is the commonly used means of communication hence eliminating the traditional approaches used in communication. During emergency operations, social media play a significant role in updating the involved parties on the strategies to implement to overcome the current disaster (Lovari & Bowen, 2019). During emergencies, social media helps in spreading the information since a high number of citizens actively use the social media platforms.
The social also acts as an open communication platform where citizens can successfully suggest their opinions, ask questions and provide updates. For instance, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and YouTube consists a high number of subscribers who successfully obtain the information shared on the media platforms. During disasters, officially uses social media to alert the citizens where help is located and when they plan to visit the impacted areas. Uploaded images and videos to social media platforms such as Facebook support documentation of damages and affected areas and the number of survivors. Information shared using social media network is clear, concise and accountable toward enhancing two-way communication between the emergency personnel and the affected population. In addition, during the emergency period, social media speedups news delivery and awareness to the public members and supports joint efforts toward immediate relief from the disaster (Fosso Wamba et al., 2017).
However, social media may also present bad aspects during its emergency operations. For instance, the information shared on the social media platforms such as Facebook may be exaggerated hence suggesting wrong information, which breaks the trust of the data. Furthermore, different segments of the public, such as the elderly, non-English speakers, economically disadvantaged, may not access the information since they don\\\’t use social media. Thus other communication strategies such as personal meetings would be effective in such cases. Furthermore, social media platforms require many human resources to monitor its information correctly and assess it and respond appropriately. Moreover, social media may include negative public opinions on disaster management, thus creating a post-disaster public relationship crisis (Ghosh et al., 2018).
The good aspects outweigh the bad concepts during emergency operations. This is evident based on the following reasons information shared in social media can be implemented to analyze the success of campaigns and emergency preparedness strategies. First, social media focuses on improving the methods, policies, tactics and program set regarding overcoming the current emergency. Second, social media helps in making effective decisions and share information that ultimately helps in saving lives. Third, implementing social media during emergency operations promotes emergence management through providing safety information, create situational awareness and correct misinformation (Xu, 2020). Also, social media increases the speed at which information is delivered to the public for quick response against the disaster.
Pedro
References
Fosso Wamba, S., Edwards, A., & Akter, S. (2017). Social media adoption and use for improved emergency services operations: the case of the NSW SES. Annals Of Operations Research, 283(1-2), 225-245. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10479-017-2545-9
Ghosh, S., Ghosh, K., Ganguly, D., Chakraborty, T., Jones, G., Moens, M., & Imran, M. (2018). Exploitation of Social Media for Emergency Relief and Preparedness: Recent Research and Trends. Information Systems Frontiers, 20(5), 901-907. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10796-018-9878-z
Lovari, A., & Bowen, S. (2019). Social media in disaster communication: A case study of strategies, barriers, and ethical implications. Journal Of Public Affairs, 20(1). https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.1967
Xu, Z. (2020). How emergency managers engage Twitter users during disasters. Online Information Review, 44(4), 933-950. https://doi.org/10.1108/oir-08-2019-0275
RESPONSE 1 (BRETT)
Classmates and Professor,
The use of social media in emergencies is more good in an acute situation and reacting to empirical news and distributing the news out to individuals that need it. There are many examples of use of Social media to make sure that individuals are tracking the severity and location of natural disasters; I would like to highlight the use of Australia’s social media to show the locations of recent wildfires and how the smoke downwind hazard areas can be serviced with minimal exposure as they evacuate (Anikeeva et al, 2016). This system seems to be effective and a good analogue that could be easily exported for the California Wildfires that seem to crop up every year it seems like.
For the bad, I would like to show how crowdsourcing ideas to help expand criminal searches is not something you want unaccredited individuals doing. Reddit crowdsourced its search for the Boston Marathon bombers, and fingered a man named Sunil Tripathi as the bomber. This was despite the individual being dead prior to the bombing and in no way affiliated with the actual bombers Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and Tamerlan Tsarnaev. Reddit potentially wasted law enforcement resources during a time critical environment as the police were attempting to find and apprehend the Boston Marathon Bomber (Wade, 2014).
I think social media is good for the ongoing emergency. False leads and incorrect information in the short term will be outweighed by the crowd sourced info about the emergency helping save lives. It slowly becomes more detrimental when the immediacy of the information is less important and when inaccuracy isn’t deadly. Folks aren’t willing to publish information that might get someone killed immediately. It seems like a natural human reaction. But the moment we have an incomplete understanding and the stakes have been lowered a bit, people feel free to express their ignorance and present it as fact. Just look at the masking debate for COVID… At the beginning of the pandemic masking was vital and important, but slowly confidence was eroded and now you see anti-mask propaganda all over social media… And since it’s a political issue now, national media.
Brett
References:
Anikeeva, O., Steenkamp, M., & Arbon, P. (2016). The Future of Social Media Use During Emergencies in Australia: Insights from the 2014 Australian and New Zealand Disaster and Emergency Management Conference Social Media Workshop. Effective Communication During Disasters, 151-162. doi:10.1201/9781315365640-14
Wade, C. (2014, April 15). How Reddit Reckoned With Its Own Power in the Year After the Boston Bombings. Retrieved from https://slate.com/technology/2014/04/reddit-and-th…
RESPONSE 2 (MATTHEW)
Class,
Social media\\\’s ever growing presence and reliance in our society has made the multiple platforms used key assets that can be positively leveraged during a disaster and emergency operations. The Public Information system of NIMS and the ICS could benefit both from gathering and disseminating information utilizing social media. \\\”Public Information consists of the processes, procedures, and systems to communicate timely, accurate, and accessible information on the incident’s cause, size, and current situation to the public, responders, and additional stakeholders (both directly affected and indirectly affected).The Public Information Officer advises the IC/UC on all public information matters relating to the management of the incident. The Public Information Officer also handles inquiries from the media, the public, and elected officials; emergency public information and warnings; rumor monitoring and response; media relations; and other functions required to gather, verify, coordinate, and disseminate accurate, accessible, and timely information related to the incident. Information on public health, safety, and protection is of particular importance.\\\” (NIMS, 2008) The negative aspect of utilizing or relying on social media is that it could be overwhelming to sift through and prioritize, take valuable resources, and need to be verified. Also during major disasters internet and traditional cellular communications can be compromised, down or completely wiped out. An over reliance on utilizing social media during emergency operations without a contingency plan in place could leave you without a mechanism to reach the masses when they need information the most.
I believe that leveraging social media is absolutely imperative in today\\\’s society to gather and disseminate information during a disaster. Sometimes this may be the only way some injured or stranded people have a way to communicate when traditional emergency services are over saturated and stressed. Creating teams within the Public Information sector of the ICS and EOC will allow the responders and IC with the most up to date information possible as well as providing updates to the public. The good certainly outweighs the bad when looking at creating or diverting existing resources. Having a plan in place before a disaster hits on the role of social media will ease the burden of this allocation.
Matthew
Reference:
National Incident Management System (NIMS). Department of Homeland Security Resource Center. Retrieved from http://www.fema.gov/national-incident-management-s…
RESPONSE 3 (ANDREW)
Class,
Professor and Classmates,
Government agencies and local authorities alike are finding social media platforms useful in disseminating vital information to the public. Over 70% of Americans now use some form of social media daily (Social Media Fact Sheet, 2021). With that many followers, it stands to reason those agencies like FEMA or even local emergency managers would push updates out on local threat information. In 2012, emergency managers and government agencies in New Orleans were frequently sending out notifications through social media on the progress and trajectory of Hurricane Isaac. Likewise, in 2011, the city if Christchurch New Zealand sustained a 6.2 earthquake. In the immediate aftermath, the New Zealand government used social media for residents to report structural damage within their communities, as well as to disseminate information on resources available to those that had been affected by the earthquake (Innovative Uses of Social Media in Emergency Management, 2013).
Sadly, we all have seen social media used in nefarious ways to spread disinformation regarding less acute incidents like the COVID-19 pandemic. Between May 12th and May 18th, 2020, COVID-19 was referenced in over 40 million posts, making it almost impossible to determine between valid information and nonsense (Michael Gottlieb MD, 2020). Sadly, there were those who were motivated by political or nefarious intentions to intentionally publish misinformation concerning the pandemic to create chaos and instability.
Andrew
Bibliography
Innovative Uses of Social Media in Emergency Management. (2013, September). Retrieved from Department of Homeland Security: https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publicatio…
Michael Gottlieb MD, S. D. (2020, May 31). Information and Disinformation: Social Media in the COVID-19 Crisis. Retrieved from Wiley Online Library: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/a…
Social Media Fact Sheet. (2021, April 7). Retrieved from Pew Research Center : https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/so…
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Module 2 – Background
PLANNING FOR EMERGENCIES: NIMS; HAZARD AND VULNERABILITY ANALYSIS
Required Reading
Essential components of emergency management plans at community health centers: Crosswalk of plan elements (2009). National Association of Community Health Centers. Retrieved from https://www.aachc.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/E…
Foundation for the Standardized Emergency Management System SEMS California Emergency Management Agency (2010). State of California. Retrieved from https://www.caloes.ca.gov/PlanningPreparednessSite…. Read “Four Components of SEMS” and “Organizational/Response Levels and Activation Requirements,” pp. 40 – 43
Harper, T. (2018, July 6). How social media disinformation is complicating emergency response. Federal News Network. Retrieved from https://federalnewsnetwork.com/commentary/2018/07/…
Lester, W. and Krejci, D. (2007). Business “not” as usual: The National Incident Management System, federalism, and leadership. Public Administration Review 67, 84. Available in the Trident Online Library.
Required Websites
Hazard Identification Vulnerability Analysis (HIVA):http://www.countyofkingwa.us/safety/prepare/Emerge…
Map: Social Media Monitoring by Police Departments, Cities, and Counties. https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-re…
National Incident Management System (NIMS). Department of Homeland Security Resource Center. http://www.fema.gov/national-incident-management-s…
Topic collection: Social media in emergency response. Retrieved from https://asprtracie.hhs.gov/technical-resources/73/…
Requirements: Requirements are provided above.
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