Thursday, April 18, 2013

Social media, digital volunteers, distance and coordination ...



It's been quite a week. First, the Boston Marathon bombing, then the fertilizer plant explosion in West, Texas and today, severe weather, tornadoes and floods across the US Midwest. In all of these events, social media is player a big role.

One of the images of the suspects captured by still cameras and surveillance cameras along the marathon route. The FBI released a set of such pictures today.

In Boston, the investigation is being crowdsourced with digital volunteers coordinating through Reddit and the FBI and law enforcement are counting on the millions of people armed with mobile devices that can be real-time sleuths and provide valuable tips. Here are the two suspects.

Here's an excellent summary of the many stories on the role of social media in the aftermath of the bombing.



As far as the severe weather outbreak ... crowdsourcing, social networks, mobile technologies are finding their expressions through some impressive crisis mapping. ESRI once again shows the way.




Finally, the gigantic explosion at the fertilizer plant in Texas, in the little town of West, some distance from Waco proved to be devastating. 35 or so deaths and many more are still missing ... the social convergence phenomenon (mobile tech + social networks) have given us one of the most poignant videos we've seen in a long time:

I observed some very interesting exchanges last night about the use of hashtags ( #) on Twitter about the explosion. Two sources/contacts on Twitter that I respect had opposing views on what principal location hashtag should be used.

The NYC ARECS (Amateur Radio Emergency Communication Network - @nycarecs on Twitter) was using and promoting the use of the #waco tag:

@nycarecs : Report: Every home within a four-block area of the fertilizer plant is gone. West, TX #waco 3 mins ago · more » · @GlobalRevLive : BREAKING ...

@nycarecs : USE #WACO AS A HASHTAG FOR [WEST, TEXAS] EXPLOSION. #smem #vost PLEASE RETWEET


For some, closer to the action in Texas, this did not sit too well. There's a big difference, 

between the little town of West and Waco. Michael Walter (@michaelmwalter on Twitter)

an SMEM enthusiast and PIO for the Office of Emergency Management in Houston pointed 

that out to the New York ham radio crew.


DO NOT USE as Hashtag for or !



is not where the event is happening. most of the information is on and - please stop tweeting this.

3 comments:

  1. I think we need to re-visit the core principle of VOST that it is activated and led by an agency coordinating incident information. And I have led my volunteers in the principle that they are amplifying officially released information, not creating it or amplifying general media info (which may be incorrect) as a situation is developing. My review of geo-coded messages showed a clear preference for the #westtx and #westexplosion tags and had more relevant saftey and public information messages where the #waco tag appeared to be general press information. The question we must ask ourselves as directed VOST members or as well-meaning volunteer observers, "am I helping or harming the situation?" By amplifying only press messages, are we drowning out the potential safety messages that need to reach the public? Are we missing questions or requests for assistance because we didn't find the local geo-coded tag, just the most popular tag? And finally, how can we posture ourselves as a professional #SMEM community when self-activations are so tempting in our desire to learn and perfect our skill. I think after this week we all just need to take a deep breath, focus on the core goals, and get back to business learning and sharing information that maybe in the future can help save lives or prevent tragedy.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I agree completely Patrice. While it is impossible to "control" a hashtag, if local officials request volunteers to share info to a specific hashtag, I see no reason not to respect their efforts. (You can still continue sharing to the popular tag as well.) The local EMs, officials and even volunteers know the local culture, geography and may have a very good reason for wanting to have data shared somewhere off of the "popular" disaster hashtag. Who ever said that there can only be one hashtag for each event? It's like saying that all TV reporters should be broadcasting for the same TV station or all ham radio operators should talk on the same frequency. As users become more sophisticated, as they are now, it will be possible to operate more than one hashtag during a disaster, and people will understand what that means. I was one of the people wh respectfully asked some volunteers to start sending important updates to the #WestExplosion tag. I was dismayed to the see the negative reaction and posts calling us bullies for attempting to help the local EM. No worries though, this is all very new, we are all learning, and I know everyone - even those who may have overreacted with negative posts - are trying hard to help, and they mean well. I look forward to talking more about this on #smemchat an the #smem and #vost tags. Respectfully, @sct_r

    ReplyDelete
  3. I agree completely Patrice. While it is impossible to "control" a hashtag, if local officials request volunteers to share info to a specific hashtag, I see no reason not to respect their efforts. (You can still continue sharing to the popular tag as well.) The local EMs, officials and even volunteers know the local culture, geography and may have a very good reason for wanting to have data shared somewhere off of the "popular" disaster hashtag. Who ever said that there can only be one hashtag for each event? It's like saying that all TV reporters should be broadcasting for the same TV station or all ham radio operators should talk on the same frequency. As users become more sophisticated, as they are now, it will be possible to operate more than one hashtag during a disaster, and people will understand what that means. I was one of the people wh respectfully asked some volunteers to start sending important updates to the #WestExplosion tag. I was dismayed to the see the negative reaction and posts calling us bullies for attempting to help the local EM. No worries though, this is all very new, we are all learning, and I know everyone - even those who may have overreacted with negative posts - are trying hard to help, and they mean well. I look forward to talking more about this on #smemchat an the #smem and #vost tags. Respectfully, @sct_r

    ReplyDelete