Social Media and a State of Emergency

Floods are about to hit Brisbane, and it has been truly extraordinary to see how it unfolds. Just incredible and surreal. My parents still talk of the floods of 1974. This is said to be bigger.

Another fascinating thing about this, is how much the communication has changed since Brisbane's last major floods in 1974. I have watched the entire emergency play out through Twitter, with warnings from the Queensland Police Service, ABC news and even the social media academics at the Universities here. I get the news on Twitter, before I hear it on the television. I had managed to share footage of the devastation in a nearby regional city, to alert my friends of the magnitude of what was happening on Facebook, hours before they viewed it on the news. To know what is going on, and to receive updates as they come to hand is incredible.

I was initially cynical about Twitter, because it was often touted as a place for frivolous celebrity updates. However, I knew that I really had to get over that idea. I started my account in 2009, posted sporadically, but have not been actively involved with it until relatively recently, despite reading a lot of literature about it. For starters, I am a big fan of Henry Jenkins and his book Convergence Culture. I have read The White Paper. I have also been following prominent social media researcher danah boyd. There is some exciting and wonderful literature out there on this topic.

It is the concept of sharing that has made it quite an extraordinary resource. It is also extremely helpful in an emergency like this and to stay informed. It is also important to stay critical too. When on Twitter, stick to reliable sources such as the authorities, like the Queensland Police Service and known news sources. Watch what you retweet.