This document discusses how social media has changed disaster response by allowing for more immediate communication. It notes that the 2010 Haiti earthquake was a watershed moment where social media was heavily used to disseminate information and coordinate aid efforts. Now, organizations can use platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and text messaging to quickly communicate needs and status updates during emergencies. However, online activism still needs to be supplemented with real-world actions to create meaningful change.

1. Image: Pixabay
How Social Media is
Changing Response Time
By: Jenna Dawson
Natural
Disasters

2. Between 2000 and
2012, natural
disasters caused
$1.7 trillion in
damage and
affected 2.9 billion
people. [12]
Image: stockvault
Image: Unsplash
Image: stockvault
Image: stockvault

3. When Hurricane Katrina ravaged the U.S. Gulf Coast in 2005, Facebook was
the new kid on the block. There was no Twitter for news updates, and the
iPhone was not yet on the scene. [4]
Image: Pexles

4. The Haitian
earthquake is
often pointed
to as the
watershed
moment that
changed how
social media is
used in
disasters. [4]
Image: stockvaultImage: Unsplash

5. According to the
Twitter-tracking service
Sysomos, 2.3 million Tweets
included the word "Haiti" or "Red
Cross" between January 12 and
January 14. There were also
189,024 tweets that included
"90999," the number that could
be used to text message a
donation to the Red Cross. [9]
Image: Pexles

6. Most of the tweets were calls for direct action-specifically to give money-rather than
links to other sources of information or news. [9]
Image: stockvault

7. The immediacy and availability of social media was so
strong that even a number of mainstream news
organizations used it as a way to deliver first-person
sourcing as events unraveled. [9]
Image: Pexles

8. Even though most people were a world away from the
earthquake that took place in Haiti, thanks to technology
via the internet, digital photography and other means,
the imagery conveyed makes what happened there much
more real. [9]
Image: Pixabay

9. Gone are the days of
one-way communication
where only official sources
provide bulletins on
disaster news. [4]
Image: stockvault

10. Social media lets organizations communicate their needs during an
emergency, allowing mission partners to see what those immediate needs are,
and respond to them fairly quickly. [10] Image: stockvault

11. It also provides another way for responders to
get a better view of emergency situations. [10]
Image: Pexles

12. In many cases, those on the run have used
the Facebook Safety Check Feature. [2]
Image: Pixabay

13. Facebook Safety Check – an update that allows Facebook to ask if you’re okay
when a natural disaster occurs in your city. If you are ok, it sends out a status
update that says, “I’m safe.” [11]
Image: Pexels

14. Not only do you want to know
about people’s social lives, what’s
going on in their family and post
photos, you also want to know in
certain situations if they’re safe.
[2]
Image: Pexles

15. The “Tethered Life” of, “4/10 of Canadians
that have their phones within reach for
90-100% of the day” proves that one of
the quickest way of spreading any
information is social media. [5]
Image: Pexles

16. Hyperconnectivity is about being a signal in the sea of data and making and
shaping the waves of social knowledge. [1]
Image: Pexles

17. Social media platforms have been successfully used for social good, for organizing
community activism, for empowering citizens, and for coordinating in emergency
situations. [7]
Image: stockvaultImage: stockvault

18. However, online activism
must be backed with
real-world activism —
letters to government
officials, advocacy
meetings, and public
demonstrations. [3]
Image: stockvault Image: stockvault

19. It takes seven to eight exposures, on
average, to motivate someone to take
action.
The goal of clicktivism isn’t to solve
problems; it’s to bring awareness to a
cause that we otherwise wouldn’t know
about. [8]
Image: stockvault

20. Social media is meant to make people feel like
they’re affecting change and doing good, without
having to do anything that gets them out of their
comfort zone. [6]
Image: Pexles

21. Therefore, despite the
oft-repeated claim that
awareness does nothing, it
almost always does
something — something
small, perhaps, but
something measurable. [8]
Image: Pexles

22. Works Cited
[1]Chamorro-Premuzic, Tomas. "The Future Of You". Harvard Business Review. N.p., 2013. Web. 27 May 2017.
[2]Craig, Meaghan. "Social Media Has Changed The Way People Respond To Disasters". Global News. N.p., 2016. Web. 30 May 2017.
[3]Kielburger, Marc, and Craig Kielburger. "Global Voices: 'Liking' Must Be Followed Up With Real-World Action". Times Colonist. N.p., 2015. Web. 25
May 2017.
[4]Maron, Dina. "How Social Media Is Changing Disaster Response". Scientific American. N.p., 2013. Web. 30 May 2017.
[5]Matrix, Sidneyeve. 2017. Module 03 Lecture 03 Mobilities. Video. https://onq.queensu.ca/d2l/le/content/117252/viewContent/937354/View
[6]Matrix, Sidneyeve. 2017. Module 04 Lecture 04 Social Friends. Video. https://onq.queensu.ca/d2l/le/content/117252/viewContent/937354/View
[7]S. Bresciani and A. Schmeil, "Social media platforms for social good," 2012 6th IEEE International Conference on Digital Ecosystems and Technologies
(DEST), Campione d'Italia, 2012, pp. 1-6.
[8]Sharma, Ritu. "Stop Pouring Ice On Clicktivism". The Huffington Post. N.p., 2014. Web. 25 May 2017.
[9]"Social Media Aid The Haiti Relief Effort". Pew Research Center's Journalism Project. N.p., 2010. Web. 31 May 2017.
[10]Yasin, Rutrell. "5 Ways To Use Social Media For Better Emergency Response -- GCN". GCN. N.p., 2010. Web. 30 May 2017.
[11]Zoltick, Lauren. "The Good, Bad, And In-Between Of Social Media In Crisis Situations". ISL. N.p., 2014. Web. 30 May 2017
[12]"21st Century Emergency Management." IBM. http://citizenibm.com/wp-content/uploads/2-WR1057039CA-IBM-IOC-for-the-Philippines.pdf (accessed
May 21, 2017)