In Case Of Emergency, Read Blog

Geoff Livingston in Mashable has assembled a list of “4 Social Media Efforts To Aid The Gulf Coast.” He writes:
The far-reaching Gulf oil spill tragedy has left many people feeling powerless to help out. But beyond the official Deep Horizon response, pockets of non-profits and people are starting to use social media tools to organize [...]

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I wanted to highlight two exciting disaster preparedness/response events in Washington, D.C. this weekend, which are open to any interested member of the public – CrisisCampDC and RHoK (Random Hacks of Kindness) 1.0.
CrisisCampDC is a project of CrisisCommons, which according to its website, “is a volunteer technology community dedicated to bringing together technology, innovation and volunteers [...]

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Via the Glen Gilmore and Social Media blog comes a good piece, “10 Reasons Social Media Is Important In A Real Crisis.” The reason are listed below:
1. “Official” social media accounts created by governmental agencies can become a leading hub for sharing critical information,
2. Social media beats traditional media in reporting news first; people [...]

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Andy Carvin, a senior strategist at NPR’s social media desk, just tweeted an announcement that the volunteer group CrisisCommons has released the Oil Reporter app to help citizens report on the Gulf Coast Oil Spill:
With tar balls and oil sheens beginning to reach the Gulf Coast, government officials and wildlife groups are anxious to document [...]

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SunSentinel.com in South Florida has an article, “Social Media Likely To Play Role During Hurricane Season,” which describes how local government and media are increasingly using the new information distribution platform in their disaster preparedness plans:
Before a storm hits, the Internet-driven sites will allow people to monitor a tropical system’s progress, receive evacuation orders and [...]

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Yesterday was YouTube’s 5th Anniversary, and I wanted to express my appreciation to the site for making it so easy for even a technology neophyte like myself to use.
Shooting with the equally user friendly Flip camera and then posting my (often shaky camera work) to YouTube, I have been able to utilize a lot of [...]

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For anyone interested in the role of technology in public disaster preparedness and response (and everyone in the field should be!), I highly recommend a new paper, “A Vision for Technology-Mediated Support for Public Participation & Assistance in Mass Emergencies & Disasters”.
It is co-authored by the University of Colorado/Boulder’s Leysia Palen (head of the school’s Crisis Informatics program which [...]

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There’s a useful roundup by Mollie Vandor, How To Prepare For Disasters Using Social Media, from the website Mashable.com. It was originally posted in March when this blog was on hiatus, and I just saw it. I wanted to post the article even though some of you may have already read it.
Vandor separates her guide into [...]

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Jeannette Sutton, who writes the informative Disaster Sociologist blog for the Emergency Management magazine website, has a post about last week’s Information Systems for Crisis and Response (ISCRAM) conference. She reports that the role of new media in emergencies received more attention this year:
In the past, social and information scientists seemed to be on the outer [...]

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On the Canadian Red Cross’s blog, Red Cross Talks, John Saunders, “Disaster Dude/Director of Disaster Management, Ontario,” has a post, Twittering About Emergency Preparedness. Saunders says that Twitter has helped the organization reach an audience — “Upward mobile, professionals between ages 30 – 45″ — which he says is often difficult to get to on [...]

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