For many, social media can be a lifesaver during a natural disaster or emergency, offering a quick way to broadcast a call for assistance, or otherwise let people know of their status. Not limited in the same way as many other forms of communication, social media has allowed those in need to both directly contact services, and also easily send requests or updates to wider networks, reshaping the nature of interactions in these times of need.
Daniel Aldrich, director of the Security and Resilience Studies program at Northeaster University, was inspired to look into the effects of social media during disasters by his own experience, arriving in New Orleans only six weeks before Hurricane Katrina hit the city in 2005. Speaking to Weather.com, Aldrich offers some insights into how it has changed emergency response and disaster preparedness, and a variety of other topics, including social media’s effect on:
- Ease of communication: “You know, in the olden days, not talking about even 15, 20 years ago, before most of us had cell phones or access to Wi-Fi, the only way communication happened during disasters was one-way, so the government would announce things or put it out on the radio or the television … and there’s no way for people on the ground to get information back to them.”
- Disaster fatigue: “If you’re especially as some of my colleagues call it, ‘doomscrolling,’ if you’re just flipping through your phone, whether it’s on Instagram or Twitter or Facebook, looking at these negative images, it can be overwhelming. And I think the human reaction, which is completely understandable, is to shut down. And I agree with that. You should put your phone down, take a walk, go outside in nature. But at the same time, that’s someone’s life.”
- The importance of personal interactions: “People’s lives are rebuilt again, not because of government aid or because of private insurance to rebuild — because friends, friends of friends, people nearby and neighbors offered them things they needed at the time they need it.”
Source:
https://weather.com/news/news/2023-02-10-social-media-disaster-relief-earthquake-hurricane-blizzard
