the use of social media in disaster rescue operations, post disaster management and future surveillance. this paper helps understand how social media can be used to meet the emergency crisis

1. THE UTILITY OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN THE DISASTER RESCUE
OPERATIONS, POST DISASTER MANAGEMENT AND FUTURE
SURVEILLANCE
Jibin Shaji1
ABSTRACT
Social media is a buzzword in this present era. The modern men use the cyber world not only to
chat, share, convey, propagate ideas but the scope of social media platforms like facebook,
whatsapp, instegram, twitter etc. are above the imaginations. In the month of July, Kerala has
witnessed the highest rain fall and the devastating flood ever recorded in the history of the God’s
own country. The timely intervention and the collective efforts from the part of the government
and voluntary agencies and kind hearted individuals helped the state to tackle the problem and the
people of Kerala stood under one umbrella with the hash tag #rebuildkerala. The social media
played a pivotal role in collecting the people all around the state and also from other states and the
cyber world played the role of disaster control room. All the individuals acted as the agent and
the all the individual count contributed their maximum.
This paper dealt with how the social media platforms helped the individuals who worked
unconditionally in the flood affected region and how the social medial platforms helped them
coordinate the activities and communicate the information with the concerned individuals. The
study has a wide scope not only in a general perspective but in can also be applied in the social
work fields. The flood gives us a warning that at any time a natural disaster can be occurred and
in order to meet the need a special surveillance system should be formed. Molding the existing
social media system by adding to the machinery to propagate about the changes and make the
people ready to accept the reality will decrease the psychological discomforts followed by the
flood, and training the exports and people living in the vulnerable regions will make the rescue
easy.
1
BSW final year student
LISSAH collage, Kaithapoyil, Kozhikode
University of Calicut
Email:jibinshaji333@gmail.com
Ph:9447341231

2. INTRODUCTION
Social media the buzzword of today influences each nook and corner of the human life. The
transitions happening to the social media plat form are beyond human imagination and as the
competition in this field is going tough and tough, exports develop more and more technologies to
compete with the other developers and to keep their monopoly. Technological advancements and
the recent trends in the science are often influence the relationships of the human beings. Such a
magnificent use of social media had occurred during the last devastating flood occurred in Kerala.
The people of Kerala used their brain outside the traditional concepts as they are thinking outside
the box always. During the massive flood the people used social media platforms to share the
information, help the rescue operations, providing goods and services to the needy and the
rehabilitation of the affected. The social media platforms acted as a control room for both the
authorities and civilians and all the activities were coordinated using the social media platforms.
These control rooms acted more brilliant than the government mechanism and it envisaged all the
individuals to participate in the rescue operations and the activities then on. During the flood the
social media platforms helped us be ready to meet toy meet any contingencies and all the
unexpected incidents going to happen.
Rather than the important role as a socializing agent, the use of social media coined new concept
named ‘cyber control rooms’. As the world is concerned with a virtual world in the future where
people will come together in an imaginary or created world rather than the real world to
communicate, share the thoughts and ideas, discuss and to interact each other. Even now the social
media plat forms help to chat and interact among the people who are in the different corners of the
globe to come together and interact without any interruption perceiving they are in the real world
as together. These days’ social work is also concerned with these kind of socialization as they
society is more tend to the technical advancement and development of science and technology. In
accordance with the development the people used be adjusted with the technological developments
and its advancements and these changes should be taken in to consideration to interact with the
people. The Arab spring which originated in Tunisia wiped out many ruthless autocratic leaders
who were in the power for decades and made an end to their reign. The Arab spring is a product
of the cyber revolution and the changes happened aftermath led the world to discuss about the
impacts of social media platforms and the virtual world to share and communicate the ideas and

3. thought without coming to the main stream. The people are always hesitant to come to the
mainstream and speak in front of the other. These virtual world help the individuals to speak as all
are independent and unknown to each other. There are many setbacks for these cyber world the
people keep formal relationships and the there is no way for the physical proximity. People treat
others like strangers. As the virtual world is characterized of hidden identity it can lead to many
problems like fake identities, more chance to subjective thoughts than objectivity, thoughts are
influenced by the concepts and ideas of the individuals who govern and monitor the activities etc.
Keeping all the setbacks apart the usefulness of the social media platforms have far reaching
significance in the modern world.
People of Kerala proved that they can use the social media platforms in its fullness. Kerala cyber
teams are already infamous for their hacking and commend on the official social media accounts
of many celebrities and influential people across the globe. Kerala is often a pioneer in the use of
social media for many purpose and it even amazed the world with its extra ordinary efficiency to
use the cyber world and transfer the ideas. During the massive flood all the possibilities were used
in the maximum.
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Dina fine (2013) on her online article stated that the first known incident of the use of social media
for the disaster management operation was the hurricane Katrina in 2005. There was no medium
to provide the updates to the people regarding the deteriorating condition and the authorities sort
the help of facebook and using it the ideas were communicated to the people and all the information
were shared immediately. Then on the world utilized the social media to share the information and
make the people aware of the conditions. Then on researchers were started on the use of social
media for the disaster rescue operations and awareness creation. Technical experts, law makers
and cyber security experts then started to assess how emergency management can be best adapted
using the social media. The federal emergency management agency (FEMA) of USA in its national
preparedness report stated that the devastating hurricane sandy was kept under control only with
the help of internet platforms. More than 20 million tweets were sending across the affected region
and it helped the people to communicate the information.

4. Ashir Ahmed (2011) the social media platforms were used in many natural disasters to help the
people and rescue them from the conditions. Before the natural disasters the social media plat
forms can be used for the mitigation. During the time of disaster, the online platforms can be used
for sudden response and aftermath of the disasters it can be further used to recovery of the people.
The author also points out how Australia using the social media platforms to communicate and
make the people ready to meet any contingencies as they are one of the countries which is more
prone to natural disasters.
Nagmassi et.al (2017) stated that the social media has a good role and in past decade a considerable
increase in the use of social media for managing the humanitarian organizations. social media play
an important role in the mitigation and preparedness phases of disaster management. Mainly to
meet three dimensions of the disaster incident namely stability, locus of casualty and control.
Lucy Yan and Alphonso Martinez (2017) on their study on the use of social media during the
hurricane sandy in 2016, stated that the social media platforms an important role in the aftermath
of the disaster. Operational activities such as aid distribution, receive information from users about
demand for help, in-kind donations and volunteering was organized through social media. The
social media sites helped the people understand the changes, situation and how to move. Also the
government could monitor the fake and remour passing through the social media relating to the
situation.
THE USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Disaster management is wide concept which include the prevention of the casualties, propagate
the information and to coordinate the rehabilitative activities. According to red cross society
disaster management can be defined as the organization and management of resources and
responsibilities for dealing with all humanitarian aspects of emergencies, in particular
preparedness, response and recovery in order to lessen the impact of disasters. The first people to
respond to a disaster are those living in the local community to reduce their vulnerability to disease
and strengthens their capacities to resist them.

5. The social media platforms are widely used to meet both the natural and manmade disasters.
Generally social media is used in the disaster management projects to meet the requirements and
to reach the people. For the rescue operations, rehabilitation process and relief activities. During
Uttarakhand disaster whatsapp was widely used to locate the people and pass the information to
the people. At the time of the Chennai flood in 2015, social media played a major role in
disseminating information like boat vehicle availability.
USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN DISASTER RESCUE OPERATIONS
The world is tending to the technological advancements and the developments. The most modern
techniques are often used to meet the contingencies and the problems. During the recent natural
the people of Kerala taught the entire world that social media can be used for rescue operations.
The term rescue means responsive operations that involve the saving of life or prevention of injury
or dangerous situation. The active
Immediate response
Immediate response is very important in dealing with the unexpected situations. The sudden
actions which are getting from the immediate response of a difficult situation will help to decrease
the magnanimity of the problem and save the life of many people. Since the other forms of
communication are limited to meet this need, the social media plat forms can be utilized to meet
those immediate reasons.
Co-ordination of activities
In many circumstances the lack of coordination of the rescue operation lead to the damage and
lose many things and lives. The main reason behind this is unanimity of the situation and the
conditions. The government mechanism which are responsible for these actions are often depended
upon the response from the part of then government and the voluntary agencies are depending
upon theirs resources and work as much as they could with their limitations and advantages. When
there is lack of coordination the sufficient care will not be reached and the agencies only with their

6. feasible regions. The social media can be utilized to coordinate both the government and voluntary
activities and monitor the activities from one location
Count the victims and safe
Counting the accurate number of the victims and safe will take a long time. The government and
other agencies are often waiting for the official reports they get from the appointed agencies or
committees. But the immediate number is very important in reuse operations. The social media
sites which like the people from different walks of life can be utilized to meet this end.
Identify the needs
Identifying the exact list of needs is one of the main mechanisms, instruments, resources are very
important in dealing the rescue operations. The lack of trained personnel’s will make the condition
worst. The social media can be used to tackle the situations and it can be utilized to identify the
needs using expertize.
Mobilize volunteers
Volunteer activities are very important to tackle many of the problems. The immediate responses
can be made mainly by the volunteers. But collecting the voluntary resources are not often
possible. The social media sites can invoke the young people and use them for the voluntary actives
Immediate rehabilitation
Immediate rehabilitation is very important to keep the affected people safe and secure. The
government utilize the public libraries, public halls. Schools to rehabilitate the people. But to say
most of the people will not aware of those shelter homes. Providing the information in the social
media sites will help the people to understand about the nearby rescue homes and he safe.
USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN POST DISASTER MANAGEMENT

7. In the post disaster stage the main activities involves are response recovery and reconstruction.
The response phase includes the search and rescue: fulfilling basic humanitarian needs of victims,
assistance by regional, national and international bodies etc. Recovery phase starts after the
immediate goal of the recovery phase is to ring the affected area back to same degree of normalcy.
In the reconstruction, the location or the construction collapsed or damaged are rebuild.
Mobilize the man power for the labour
Rebuilding of the destroyed buildings and habitats need human power to work. But the skilled
personal are not often available in the affected region and it need more people to work for the
reconstruction in a good pace. The social media platform can be utilized for the convocation of the
people around and who are willing to work for the other.
Coordination of both government and voluntary services.
There are activities from the part of the government and voluntary agencies. But the lack of
coordination of theses activities often delay in reaching the recipients. since all the activities are
uploaded in the social media it can be utilized for coordinating the activities.
Choosing the cheap and effective methods for reconstruction
Reconstruction need a huge sum of money to rebuild the damaged. the social media can be utilized
to find the easy and cheap method to get the effective building for the habitation of the people.
Inform the affected about the funds available and the aids from the voluntary agencies
Lack of awareness on the funds available to meet the disaster is one of the main problem faced by
the victims of the disaster. Informing the people through social media will help the people to
identify the available funds.
Provide opportunities and empowerment activities for the affected
The affected people should be properly rehabilitated and they should get sufficient jobs to survive
after the disaster. The social media can be utilized to inform the available jobs to the affected and
the empowerment activities by the government.
Monitor the welfare and developmental activities by the government

8. The government policies will take long time to reach the needy. The social media can be utilized
to monitor the welfare activities of the government, how the funds are utilized and how much
money is used yet.
USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN FUTURE SURVEILLANCE FROM NATURAL
AND MANMADE DISASTERS
Monitoring of the climate changes and situation awareness and early warning system
The social media plat form is widely used to monitor the climate changes and to predict the future
condition in purview of the present condition. Most of the people plan the activities using the
weather updates available on the phone and the media reports. The social media can be used to
create awareness on the climate changes and the information can be used to create early warning.
This mechanism is effectively used among the fisherman to communicate the weather changes,
forecast the future condition and to provide early warning.
To inform the people about the conditions and to make the people alert
Preparedness will decrease the casualty and damages. Most of the disasters were unexpected and
unplanned. The damage happened to the expected disaster less than the unexpected disasters.
When the people are alert they can find the alternatives and plan the action for the future. The
social media plat forms can be used to keep the people alert and face the situations. The preparation
will make the people mentally fit and to cope up with different situations. This alerting mechanism
can be further used to provide psychological first aid to those who are feeble and light minded.
To pass the official information and mobilize volunteers
The main hindrance to the disaster management and the disaster rescue operations is that the
official information are not passed properly and it will take long time to reach the estimated
destination. During the flood we witnessed that in many disaster camps the officials were unaware
on their responsibilities and they were waiting for the government orders to act upon. This

9. condition created tension and reduced the pace of the disaster rescue operations. Volunteer support
is very essential to meet the immediate requirements. During the massive flood larges number of
people willingly participate in the rescue operations and disaster camps. The government initiative
to mobilize the volunteers came only after the situation became stable. The social media platforms
can be used to mobilize volunteers to meet the requirements.
Timely estimates and forecasting the incidence of disaster
Timely estimate and forecast of the incidents of the disaster can prevent the massive loss of wealth
and lives. The limitation is that there is no such mechanism to meet these needs. The social media
can be used to meet this requirement. Now our government initiated a project to identify the
disaster prone areas and ecological hot spots using the social media platforms. The survey
conducted by the government of Kerala to get the exact details of the flood as using the social
media platforms and modern gaps technology
To identify both survivors and victims
The social media is very useful to identify both the survivors and victims. During the massive
flood of Kerala, the people informed the world whether they were safe of not using the Facebook.
That facility provided by facebook and other platforms helped to identify whoa all are where save
and to identify those who were not safe. This facility helped to save the unsafe individuals.
Situational awareness during emergency response
Lack of situational awareness in emergency response caused many casualties than the occurred
incidents. The rate of death happened from the electric shocks, animal bits and the environment
are much more than the actual death happened due to the disaster. Also the accidents occurred due
to the anonymity of the place is also very high. The social media or the internet can be used to
understand about a place which is not so known and the situation can be understood by using the
online reports.
To counter inaccurate press coverage or to counterbalance remours
In most of the disaster incidents the media coverage was not sufficiently provided. The main reason
was inaccessibility on those regions. In most of the situations the roads will be damaged and the

10. print media s are restricted to reach there. Whereas the digital media platform is dependent on the
signals and power supply, at the are also restricted. The social media can be utilized to provide the
correct and accurate information to the people. Remours are often associate with the disaster
situations. The people often will get confused with both remours and the facts. The social media
can be used to meet the remours and to pass the correct information to the people.
Encourage donations
The main source for the fund for the rebuild Kerala project was the money collected from the
people using the social media. The people donated as much they could to face the situations. Since
the social media platforms are up-to-date, the immediate information can be passed to anywhere
in the globe. This facility will help to collect money and other needed materials across the world
and to mobilize donations from both national and international voluntary or charitable agencies.
Build trust
Building trust at the dangerous situations will decrease the depth of the personal suffering and to
cope up with the conditions. Since the social media platforms provide opportunity to chat, call, or
to share the videos without any limitations. The social media can be used to build trust among the
people and make them table to meet the contingencies and to cope up with the situations.
Identify where stress management is most needed
The social media can be used to identify whether proper stress management is needed for the
individuals or not. As the professional assessment and consultation are not possible during the
flood and the aftermath of flood, the social media can be utilized to identify the stress level of the
individuals and proper care and rehabilitation can be provided according to the need.
BENEFITS OF SOCIAL MEDIA
 Helps in fast broadcasting the information and ground realities to wider audience without
waiting for news or government agencies.
 Enable 2-way interaction between various victims and rescuing team

11.  Tracking of affected people become easy and quick due to tracking facilities available to
the social media tools
 Helps raising relief materials and money by easy collaboration with
 Make relief operations more effective and timely
 Helps in alerting authorities during onset of calamity thus aiding in taking preventive
measures.
 Data collection and updating alerts and notifications become easy
 Sudden weather alerts and information can be passed immediately.
LIMITATIONS
 Unauthorized or inept use of the social medial platform by the organization’s personnel
could be damaging to credibility and ability to earn trust. Effective use of social media
requires a commitment to policies and resources.
 Location of hazard or threat was inaccurately reported, or fake information can be passed.
During the Japanese tsunami, some requests for help were retweeted repeatedly even after
the victims are rescued.
 Some individuals or organizations might intentionally provide inaccurate information to
confuse, disrupt or otherwise thwart the response efforts.
 Even though federal governments establish and maintain a social media emergency
response program are unclear the authority and lack of skilled personal is an another main
problem for those response programs.
 Many segments of the public (e.g. elderly and disadvantaged, non-English speakers etc.)
do not typically use social media and other communications channels, including for
examples, door to door meetings, may be in such cases.
 Information gathered from social media users may be inaccurate. Hoaxes are prevalent.
Information gathered that seems critical to public safety requires careful confirmation.
 Requires increased human resources to properly monitor social media, assess it had
respond appropriately. Individuals of the organization may not know procedures for

12. flagging and reporting pertinent information gleaned from social media. Training may be
necessary.
 Social media can also fan negative public opinion about the way first responders managed
the disaster, possibly creating a post-disaster public crisis.
 Multiple channel can overwhelm those tasked with monitoring social media.
 The privacy and security of personal information collected in the course of a disaster
response through social media are often miss used and utilized for many other activities.
CONCLUSION
the effective use of communication is one of the main criteria for effective operations. The
social media, as the media of the new age and this decade have important role in the activities to
handle the unexpected situations and problems. Many incidents had shown about the effective use
of social media. This paper explained how the social media can be utilized in a systematic way to
meet the situations and disasters.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Louis Ngamassi, T. R. (2016). Examining the role of social media in disaster management from attribution
theory perspective. ISCRAM 2016 conference. Rio de Janero.
Lucy Yan, A. P. (2017, september 7). SSRN. Retrieved from www.papers.ssrn.com:
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2716217
Open Designs. (2017, January 18). Retrieved from www.opendesignsin.com:
http://www.opendesignin.com/blog/redefining-communication-role-of-social-media-in-disaster-
management/
Wendling C, J. R. (2013). Retrieved from www.preparecenter.org:
http://www.preparecentre.org/topics/social-media-disasters.