As victims of Hurricane Harvey showed us, social media can be vital during disasters.
Social media is accessible through a multitude of portable, handheld devices. This means that crucial information is accessible to a large number of users. Assuming a disaster has disrupted electrical service (such as with the floods in Houston), but cell towers remained operable, these portable devices enabled people to continue using social media for information.
Social media allows news consumer to obtain real time updates from public safety officials and allows them to engage with public safety departments to work together to save lives. In fact, one of the most important attributes of social media is the speed with which information can be distributed. Many disasters today are reported first via social media. (Lee, 2017)
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Additionally, social media participants provide and use links to other content for information or emotional support. During crises, those bearing the risk have used social media as an emotional outlet, especially when the crisis isolated them from friends and family. (CDC, 2014)
As news consumers, we can share the disaster experience (for lack of a better term) through social media photos, online posts and videos captured from the ground that have been posted to Facebook and shared via Twitter, YouTube and other tools. Social media allows us to be “on scene” of train derailments, tornados, and yes, even during school shootings as evidenced by the events in Florida this week.
Those that seek not only news, but assistance, can utilize social media during disasters for assistance from other members of the public (think Cajun Navy during Hurricane Harvey, when people could not get through to 911), as well as to organize and direct resources, where needed. (Cohen,
Hurricane Harvey is located in Houston, Texas. It was the first major hurricane to make landfall in the United States since Wilma in 2005, ending a record 12- years period with no major hurricanes making landfall in the country. The sprawling and soaked Houston metro area and other deluge towns in southeast Texas braced for devastating floods and pummeling rainfall on Sunday as tropical storm Harvey stalled over land and drenched dogged searchers and anxious residents. Houston, Texas has set up shelters for people to stay out of the weather with good food, clean and fresh water, and dry, clean clothes. It is getting bigger and it has been confirmed that there will be more flooding close by to that area.
More than a dozen deaths, billions of dollars in damages and thousands of families that lost their entire lives in just over seven days. By the last week of the month of August, 39 counties in Texas were stripped of their valuables due to the massive flooding. The great cause of the damage was Hurricane Harvey, a category four storm making it one of the biggest hurricanes to ever make landfall in Texas. People from all over the country reached out and became one to aid victims of this natural disaster. Only month after the storm Texas still battles to surpass the emotional and physical damage that this storm created for our people.
Vasterman, P., Yzermans, C. J., & Dirkzwager, A. J. (2005). The role of the media and media hypes in the aftermath of disasters. Epidemiologic reviews, 27(1), 107-114.
The ways Hurricane Harvey affected us with the ESPN factors.Hurricane Harvey affected us economically because we couldnt produce gas which means we had no oil so the oil companies had to shut down. Also we couldnt pay taxes because of it and people couldnt go their jobs and make money to either pay rent or just buy their famiy food.The way it affected us Socialywas that we couldnt go on with our daily lives of simply going to the movies so companies couldnt make any money that way. It may have taken some photos or objects from peoples cultures if their house flooded and maybe took away all the clothes they had too. The way it affected us politically was that our mayor took matters into his own hands and put a curfew at 10pm because of our saftey
Instantaneously people everywhere, internet permitting, can see the actual events. People absorb this information and react. Social media has given so many people the ability to stay involved in the world by showing them tragic events. This allows them to focus on how to change the world for the better. Information used to come from only a few sources that filtered their information while social media shows raw
Some people think lying is okay, others think it’s not. However, those who think all lying is not okay are being hypocritical. Everyone has lied at least once in their life. Lies in general are a part of daily life. Many people lie for various reasons.One of the most common reasons is to protect someone. There are also lies used to cause harm and lies in the interest of the liar. All in all, many people agree that lying is sometimes acceptable when protecting someone from emotional, physical, and mental harm.
Social media can help families that has members overseas that are deployed, those who lives in distant countries, and those who are in Mr. Rogers words “helpers”. There was someone who had hearing lost that lost her job and had to use the money that she was saving to get a hearing aid. She was so frustrated she went online to talk about it. A kind person reading about her frustrations bought the poor woman the hearing aid that she needed. Social media helped them to communicate to this day because if it wasn’t for that she wouldn’t have gotten her hearing aid and wouldn’t of meet the nice person at all (Hootsuite, 2013). Media can also help military personal to communicate to their loved ones easier when they don’t have access to a phone. When my dad was deployed, we used Skype to talk to each other. It seemed like it was easier through Skype because there were times that he couldn’t use a phone
As social media continues to become the global transmitter of information, many business even government agencies and law enforcement officials have found ways to utilize this modern day source of communication. Many precincts across the United States have incorporated the use of social media as not only a way to investigate and possibly prevent crimes but also as a gateway to their community. In an article entitled “Police embrace Social Media” it was stated that a 2013 study conducted by the International Association of Chiefs of Police showed 81 percent of 728 departments surveyed said they used social media (wagley, 2014).
Technology today is more relied upon than ever before. If one needs to call someone half way around the world, simply take out a cell phone and dial their number. Within thirty seconds, one can be speaking to that person just as if two people were conversing face-to-face. In the same manner, one has access to endless knowledge and resources by the push of a few buttons or the click of a mouse. The use of social media today is becoming more prevalent than ever before because of the convenience it offers.
It also help build communities in the sense that, with its nature of interactivity, community members can share experiences, ideas and discuss matters online to foster development in the community or organization. Again, social media can serve as a watch dog for organizations to know the perception of publics regarding its services so they can act appropriately if need be. Finally, through social media, Public relation leaders communicate information on crises to reach its stakeholders quickly in the process of managing crises as a result of a bad incident or a problem that organization has subjected itself to. Public Relation expects can use social media to boost the reputation of an organization by following communication ethics of the
When there is a need for fast transfer of information, like in times of crisis, organizations can harness the use of new media to get their messages out. This allows for control of the situation on the organization’s part. The organization can even garner the public’s comments and come up with better solutions to solve the
Social media sites including Twitter and Facebook are in their infancy yet play an increasingly important role in the response to a disaster. After all, “one of the basic tenants of emergency management is mass communication and being able to deliver pertinent information to those who need it” (Gould, 2012). Social media offers an avenue to obtain up to the minute information on a given situation right in an individual's hands thanks to the proliferation of mobile devices. “Each disaster sparks its own complex web of fast-paced information exchange. It can both improve disaster response and allow affected populations to take control of their situation as well as feel empowered” (Maron, 2013). While traditional forms of media, print, radio and television in particular, have been the standard since the inception of the emerg...
Lets take a look at natural disasters, social media helps spread knowledge about events. Not everyone watches the news, and I am sure that those people who don’t watch news have some type of social media. Natural disasters are important and social media helps us be aware of our surrounds where ever we may be. Newspapers can only do so much and they take time to print and reach everyone. In critical circumstances newspapers needs to spread fast even cross borders, however social media ends up doing exactly
Nowadays, social media is growing very rapidly throughout the whole world. Social media has changed the way that we communicate with others through using these common social networking sites like Face book, Twitter, and Instagram…For that, social media has positively and negatively impacted our life.
Some of the ideas that are central to the idea that social media is a benefit to today’s society are that social media encourages increased communication with friends and family, provides fast access to breaking news and other information, and help business attract new business and correspond more quickly with their existing customers. Increased communication is important in all aspects of life. Keeping in touch with family and friends is easier than ever before. Whether it be a Facebook post or a tweet updating friends about exciting news or being able to see a picture...