Role of social media during an emergency

Ademola Abimbola has informed that “When disaster strikes, most people turn to social media networks to get news. Necessary updates are given to them by the persons who are at the center of the event. In Haiti and the year 2011 Japan earthquake and tsunami, trapped victims could use social media platforms through their cell phones to call upon help and communicate with responders. The use of social media in emergency management situations has made it easy for disaster relief organisations to focus on increasing their activities.

According to the survey of American Red Cross, on the topic of ”Social Media in Disasters and Emergencies” 18 percent of respondents would opt the option of digital social media if emergency number 911 were unsuccessful. In addition, whenever any natural calamity, disaster, epidemic happens, different platforms of social media are used to assist others to find their loved ones. For instance, Facebook has introduced an innovative feature that allows a person to mark themself ‘safe’ during any kind of emergency. With the help of this feature you can communicate to your loved ones that you are at a safe place and no need to worry, it reduces their nervousness.

Because of social media, it has become easy to take decisions instantly and communicate the valuable information smoothly and that can eventually help save the lives of millions. For emergency management, the role of Social Media is very significant which consists of important safety information, create situational awareness, availability of emergency equipment etc. Volunteers who provide help in a difficult time use the different social media platforms to grant assistance to people in the affected areas. In today’s world, no one can ignore the importance of social media, to provide the expected relief to affected people.

It has been observed that in many cases in recent years that during the emergency people cannot access newspapers, news channels, Television for reliable information. But virtual accounts on social media helped them a lot. In the present situation of pandemic ‘Coronavirus’ (COVID 19) the count of infected people and count of death is increasing day by day and what preventive measures should be taken that have been learned through social media by the millions of people.

Even in November 2019 in China, few doctors have warned the people regarding the Coronavirus through social media. But the warning of these doctors was not taken seriously by the people of china also not by the communist government of China. Instead of taking the corrective action against coronavirus government of china put these whistleblowers behind the bars and filed a case against them, stating that these doctors are creating panic in the society by using social media. After the increased outbreak of COVID 19 in January 2019 the government of China realized their mistake and started to take corrective measures to stop the spread of coronavirus in the rest part of the country but that was too late.

With the help of the above given example of a coronavirus outbreak, we can understand the significant role of social media in the process of spreading vital information regarding the pandemic. If the government of China at that time had taken the messages spread over social media regarding the coronavirus, the present situation could have been much better.

Pros of Social Media

Ø Raises awareness

Ø Can combat loneliness

Ø Normalizes help-seeking behavior

Ø Creates and maintains relationships

Cons of Social Media

Ø Promotes fake news

Ø Can increase loneliness

Ø Encourages anti-social behaviour

Ø Cyberbullying