When a natural disaster strikes, time is of the essence. Fortunately, in this day and age quick communication is something we have mastered, perhaps better than any other time in history. A large part of this communication is the Internet and of course social media.

During both the recent Victorian bushfires disaster and the Sichuan earthquake in China last year, social media played a vital role in relaying information to the masses with the timelines required.

In both instances social media outlets such as Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, blogs and podcasts, along with videos and interactive maps were, and still are, buzzing with personal accounts of those affected (source).

Giving more importance to these once seemingly insignificant sources, mainstream news outlets are using these accounts extensively in their reports as they struggle to provide comprehensive coverage in the wake of such a crisis.

Timothy Coombs, Professor of Crisis Communication at Eastern Illinois University states that ‘the downside of social media is the need for stakeholders to, firstly, have the technology and, secondly, realise its value during a crisis’. However, a crisis creates an ‘information vacuum’ that needs to be filled and, as proven in the response to the Victorian Bushfires, social media sufficiently fills this vacuum.

Social media can also do wonders for your own organisations, aiding with internal communications, event management, crisis communications and building a sense of community for key stakeholders. It is a cost effective and easy way to deliver your key messages quickly.

Want to learn more about how social media can help you or your organisation? Call Cal or Merilyn on (03) 9819 2466.

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 26th, 2009 at 7:54 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.