WEEK 8 – Have You Ever Posted on Social Media During an Emergency?
Have you ever posted on social media during an emergency?
Maybe it was sharing information about a flood in your area, reposting evacuation notices during a wildfire, or checking whether friends and family were safe after a natural disaster.
Social media is often associated with entertainment, memes, and everyday communication. However, during times of crisis, these platforms can become something much more important. When traditional communication systems fail or become overwhelmed, people increasingly turn to platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and WhatsApp to share information, seek help, and coordinate responses (Bruns & Burgess, 2014).
There is something remarkable happening every time a disaster unfolds online. Information no longer flows only from governments, journalists, or emergency services. Ordinary citizens become active participants in collecting, verifying, and distributing information. In many cases, people on the ground can provide updates faster than official organisations.
This process is often described as crowdsourcing. Crowdsourcing refers to the collection of information, knowledge, or resources from a large group of people, usually through digital platforms (Howe, 2008). During natural disasters such as the Haiti earthquake, the Japan tsunami, the Queensland floods, and the Black Saturday bushfires, volunteers used social media and collaborative mapping tools to gather real-time information from affected communities. The result was a new form of crisis communication that relied on networks of ordinary people rather than solely on traditional authorities.
The rise of crowdsourcing challenges conventional understandings of communication during emergencies. Traditionally, information moved through hierarchical structures, from governments and emergency services to the public. Social media has transformed this process into a networked model where information can travel rapidly between citizens, communities, journalists, and institutions (Bruns & Burgess, 2014).
This shift reflects broader changes in digital communities. Online networks allow people to come together around shared goals, even if they have never met. Boyd (2010) describes these spaces as networked publics — publics that are restructured by networked technologies and shaped by the interactions of connected users. During crises, these temporary communities often emerge quickly, sharing information, coordinating aid, and solving problems collectively.
Volunteer programmers, digital activists, and local residents frequently collaborate to create tools and resources that assist disaster response efforts. Jenkins (2006) argues that digital communities often generate collective intelligence, where knowledge is produced through the contributions of many individuals rather than a single authority. Crowdsourcing demonstrates how collective intelligence can be mobilised in times of crisis to solve problems and distribute critical information.
However, crowdsourcing is not without its challenges. While social media enables rapid information sharing, it also creates opportunities for misinformation and rumours to spread. In fast-moving emergencies, inaccurate information can cause confusion, panic, or even place people at risk. Information shared by the crowd may be fast, but it is not always reliable (Bruns & Burgess, 2014).
This creates an important tension. On one hand, crowdsourcing empowers citizens and allows communities to respond quickly when official systems are overwhelmed. On the other hand, emergency response requires accurate and trustworthy information. The same platforms that enable collective intelligence can also amplify mistakes.
The question, then, is not simply whether crowdsourcing is useful during disasters.
WHEN CRISIS STRIKES, SHOULD WE TRUST OFFICIAL SOURCES, OR THE COLLECTIVE KNOWLEDGE OF THE CROWD?
References
boyd, d. (2010). Social Network Sites as Networked Publics: Affordances, Dynamics, and Implications. In Z. Papacharissi (Ed.), Networked Self: Identity, Community, and Culture on Social Network Sites. Routledge.
Bruns, A., & Burgess, J. (2014). Crisis Communication in Natural Disasters: The Queensland Floods and Twitter. In K. Weller, A. Bruns, J. Burgess, M. Mahrt & C. Puschmann (Eds.), Twitter and Society. Peter Lang.
Howe, J. (2008). Crowdsourcing: Why the Power of the Crowd Is Driving the Future of Business. Crown Business.
Jenkins, H. (2006). Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide. New York University Press.











