This document summarizes research on the use of social media during the 2011 Queensland floods in Australia. It analyzes tweets using the hashtag #qldfloods to understand themes over time, key actors and networks. It finds that #qldfloods served as a coordinating tool, and that the Queensland Police Twitter account @QPSmedia emerged as a central information source. It also compares social media use across different recent crises and outlines next steps for the research.

1. Social Media Use in the Queensland FloodsImage by campoaltoAssoc. Prof. Axel Bruns / Dr. Jean BurgessQueensland University of TechnologyAssoc. Prof. Kate Crawford / Frances ShawUniversity of New South WalesARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries & Innovation

2. Crisis Communication research in the CCIARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries & Innovation (national, based at QUT)Project: Media Ecologies & Methodological InnovationAims to implement new methods to understand the changing media environment;Focusing on the relationship between social media and traditional media and communication platforms;Combining large-scale computer-assisted techniques with qualitative social research and close textual analysisFocus on Crisis CommunicationNatural disastersOther ‘acute events’

3. Crisis Communication research in the CCIJan-April 2011Focus on uses of social media during the Qld FloodsArchive of tweets using #qldfloodshashtagAnalysisVolume of tweets over time@replies and retweets: key actors and their networksURLs: key media resources, user-uploaded images and videosEmergence and uptake of hashtags and other user conventionsContent analysis: themes and purposes over time

4. Case study: @QPSMedia

5. Next stepsMore forensics: successes and failures, especially rumours and misinformationFurther comparison with other recent natural disastersComparing mainstream and social media coverageSocial context: in-depth interviews with residentsDirect engagement with emergency services, government and media

6. Twitter and the Queensland Floods: #qldfloods tweets10 Jan 2011 11 Jan 2011 12 Jan 2011 13 Jan 2011 14 Jan 2011 15 Jan 2011

7. Local Focus: #qldfloods from Toowoomba to BrisbaneToowoomba vs. Lockyer/Grantham vs. Ipswich vs. Brisbane slide10 Jan 2011 11 Jan 2011 12 Jan 2011 13 Jan 2011 14 Jan 2011 15 Jan 2011

8. Twitter and the Queensland Floods: #qldfloods postersretweet feedsmainstream mediaQld Police

9. Twitter and the Queensland Floods: #qldfloods @repliesauthoritiesmainstream media

10. Twitter and the Christchurch Earthquake: #eqnz @repliesmainstream mediaauthoritiesutilities

11. Key Accounts over Time

12. @QPSmedia as Central #qldfloods Information Source

13. #qldfloods Network Map – Most Active Accounts Only(Degree >= 15 / Node size: indegree / node colour: outdegree)

14. Twitter Events in Perspective: Comparing the Main 24h

15. Twitter and the Japanese Tsunami: Beyond the #Hashtag

16. Twitter and the Queensland FloodsFirst lessons:#qldfloods as coordinating tool – one central hashtagGo where the users are – and help establish hashtagPlus inventive additions – e.g. @QPSmedia #Mythbuster tweetsMost activity by individuals – but key official accounts cut throughEnable easy retweeting and sharing of messagesRespond and engageMainstream media are important in social media environments, tooTwitter as an amplifier of key messagesTwitter vs. Facebook – which works when?

17. Image by campoaltohttp://mappingonlinepublics.net/@snurb_dot_info | a.bruns@qut.edu.au@jeanburgess | je.burgess@qut.edu.au@katecrawford | k.crawford@unsw.edu.au