Australian Natural Disasters And The Power Of Social Media
Over the last decade the Australian weather has tried our country and its people with multiple floods, fires and other natural disasters. Due to natural disasters knocking out many forms of communication such as phone lines and the ability to transport yourself to the authorities, as well as the issue of the authorities having no means to contact mass amounts of people other ideas needed to be tried and tested. During the many tragedies it has become paramount that the way in which we alert those who may be immediately affected becomes faster and more efficient and in turn there is a hope that more lives can be saved.
With every natural disaster we have endured in states and towns all over the country social media has played an increasingly key role in crisis communication. At first authorities began to use hashtags related to the various disasters to give updates and respond to distressed people using social media platforms such as twitter and Facebook to communicate during disasters such as the QLD floods. It then evolved into a way that the public could convey important information to emergency crews. Where possible and safe the public could take photos of evolving fires or hurricanes and give authorities the location so they could monitor and respond accordingly. These tactics were used throughout tropical cyclone Marcia.
Social media has allowed a physical community to become an online one and form a line of information that can potentially save lives. However as with everything there has been criticism of the use of social media for this purpose saying that some may use the platform to attempt to contact authorities instead of calling leaving them vulnerable to slipping through the cracks. On top of this there is also a potential for spreading of prank alerts causing unnecessary wide spread panic as many are relying on the platform for information. In contrast to the criticism one notably positive development in social media to aid recent disasters is the development of twitter alerts in 2013. This technology allows approved law enforcement such as the police and government agencies to send vital information of safety messages or warnings and evacuation instructions. Followers of the account receive push notifications to alert them.
Reference -
- Potter, E, 2015, ‘The role of social media as cyclones batter Australia’, The Conversation, Feb 20th, viewed 28/04/2016, http://theconversation.com/the-role-of-social-media-as-cyclones-batter-australia-37835
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