Social Media in Crisis Management: Role, Potential, and Risk

The paper explores the role of social media during large scale crises and disasters, as investigated by the COSMIC project. Based on a typology of crises and on case studies, we examine communication challenges and societal dynamics in conjunction with interactions among new media, officials and first responders, and the public. A number of technology issues associated with new media applications, such as their vast size, fast updates and semantic richness--albeit at semi-structured representations--are considered. Finally, we refer to features of the relationship between social media and the wider public, the associated ethics, risks and benefits and the potential role of citizens as first responders/volunteers, social activists and journalists/reporters.