The Use of Social Media by Emergency Stakeholder Groups: Lessons Learned from Areas Affected by Hurricanes Isaac and Sandy

We present findings from our 2018 survey of organizations involved in emergency management in areas affected by Hurricanes Sandy and Isaac to gain insight into their social media use throughout the four phases of emergencies – preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation planning. While 90% of the 269 respondents report using social media in their communications with the public, government offices are more active throughout the four phases compared to the other groups. First responders use social media most during the response and preparedness phases, while news media and NGOs are more active during the recovery phase. This suggests that groups that perform emergency-response functions and NGOs play complementary roles in emergency communications. Further, respondents representing government offices and first responders use social media primarily to disseminate information, while news media groups and NGOs expressed more confidence in social media as a mechanism for bi-directional communications. While Facebook is most commonly used to respond to the public, the NGOs and news media groups also use newer, image-based options like Instagram. All groups reported less social media use during the quiet time (mitigation planning phase) between emergencies, suggesting opportunities for these organizations to increase communications with the public before emergencies arise.