Using Social Media in a Crisis

You may have heard about the use of social media (SM) – websites like Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and Craigslist – to spread information “virally” during emergencies. SM is an emergency response channel with both positive and negative implications. It’s good to be aware of the possibilities both ways. Here’s a pertinent article from a recent edition of Nature: “Crisis Communication – Messages appear on Internet-based social networks within minutes of disasters occurring. Lea Winerman investigates how to harness this trend to create official community-response grids.”