TORONTO - New media and social networks are helping to strengthen community resilience during times of disaster, such as the oil spill in the Gulf Coast, a conference heard on Monday.
Twitter, Facebook and My Space all play a role in bringing the community together by sharing information, Dr. Jeannette Sutton, assistant research professor adjoint trauma, health and hazards centre at the University of Colorado said at the World Conference of Disaster Management at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.
The capacity for informal communications has been transformed by social media technologies, Sutton said.
People are now “creating maps” on the Internet in which citizens provide information.
“A year ago in Kenya before the election the people created Ushahidi.com (which means testimony), so when people witnessed violence they posted the information and created a testimony,” Sutton said.
Now that technology is being used in the Gulf Coast.
People on the web page Crisis Commons report the conditions of the wild life, report on smell, injured people and who is getting sick.
“It is fantastic that this came out of Kenya and now it is being used for a technological disaster. People walking on the beach can report what they see (with their phone). So much information about the spill is not being released (through normal channels),” Sutton said.
“Citizen reporting is changing the game. People are no longer waiting for information to come from the top. Information is not going into a black hole.” kevin.connor@sunmedia.ca
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