From the Christchurch earthquake to Libya and Egypt to the floods at our own doorstep the international community has seen more than its fair share of tragedy in 2011.
Throughout these trying times the growth and increasing dependence of society on social media and online journalism has again manifest itself and ignited debate into what role the internet including online media and social networks should undertake in these hard circumstances.
Abandoning the traditional means of finding out information through press releases, radio and TV, this year the public turned increasingly to the internet as their primary source of information for news about the spread of damage and the location of their loved ones.
This was useful particularly to relatives overseas, desperate for information on their loved ones who instead of having to endure the days of uncertainty and worry were able too, in many instances, log onto the internet and make contact with heir missing family/friends.
Similar to news gathering and crowd sourcing the internet again proved to grant the public a platform to participate and collaborate to help each other, ‘peer-to-peer aid’ as it was described by some rather than helplessly waiting for information from the authorities. Whether reporting sightings of missing persons or using social media to generate volunteers and organise relief efforts social media proved to become invaluable in revolutionising disaster response within communities and connect people throughout the world. TIME reporter Erin Skarda reported for example that Facebook page “Joplin tornado citizen checks,” was used by American’s to locate loved ones and get information on the movements of the tornado.
Similarly, international support via tweet became a relied on source of communication and news (as new eye-witness accounts were made available consistently – twitter reported a record 177 million tweets on the day of the Japanese earthquakes.
Locally a review commissioned by the Brisbane City Council into the response to the flood and the effectiveness of social media in communicating information revealed twitter and Facebook to be he most effective means in spreading information.
During the flood the digital communication team recorded significant numbers proving the effectiveness in which information was transferred via social media.
Facebook:
- 1,570% Increase in likes
- 759 likes to 12,679 likes
- 17,546 comments
- 4,641,232 post views
- 21,521 views on ‘Facebook Notes’
- 125 Facebook Notes
Twitter:
- 180% Increase in followers
- 2,955 followers to 8,291 followers
- 561 tweets sent throughout January
- 2,207 re-tweets (RT)
- 8,322,516 impressions
- 105,306 clicks on links posted on Facebook and Twitter (bit.ly)
- 7,258 total mentions
Along with altered role of the public in the disaster, becoming more than bystanders, efforts from big companies like Google who set up person finder programs also contributed to a wider awareness of what was occurring overseas and the safety of loved ones.
Some have criticised the idea of social media replacing traditional news in emergencies by citing that the information might bear questionable accuracy or that technology might be used instead by instigators to better co-ordinate efforts or encourage racism and organised violence. You need not look further for proof of the potential damage that an idiot with a moronic views can do than at our own Allan Jones particularly his part in the Cronulla Riots in 2005 (and that was over radio with far less public exposure).
Keeping this in mind however I believe that online media as a tool, particularly in disasters will revolutionise not only the flow of information we as journalists will be able to obtain which will provide us with new and varied perspectives, but also allow a more comprehensive coverage of disasters and consequently a more effective, well informed disaster relief effort. It really proves that the rise of the internet has not only altered journalism but instead has changed the very way in which wider society can effectively communicate.
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