Selected Academic Articles
Changing Channels: Communicating Tsunami Warning Information in Hawaii
Jeannette Sutton, Brett Hansard, and Paul Hewett
On the morning of February 27, 2010, a potentially destructive tsunami reached the Hawaiian Islands, following a powerful 8.8-magnitude earthquake that struck Chile the prior evening. In the approximately 15 hours between the time of the earthquake and the tsunami making landfall, information to warn the populations at risk was communicated through multiple official and unofficial channels, including social media networks. Focusing on the city of Hilo on the Island of Hawaii, the authors examine the strategies used to warn the public and the methods employed to gather and disseminate information and monitor public response. Emergency managers and news media that created and disseminated warning products were among those interviewed. (Follow-up interviews were conducted in March 2011 following the Japan earthquake and subsequent tsunami.) Key findings from this study showed that (1) traditional news media, especially local radio stations, continue to play a vital role in communicating emergency public information; (2) the use of new technology, such as social media, is widespread in a crisis, but only as part of a larger information-sharing strategy; and (3) pre-existing networks and community partnerships are the foundation for information sharing in an emergency. The authors argue that it is critical that responsible organizations use multiple channels to ensure warning messages are effectively communicated to the public.
Presented at the 3rd International Joint Topical Meeting on Emergency Preparedness and Response, Robotics, and Remote Systems. Knoxville, Tennessee. August 9, 2011.
Twittering Tennessee: Distributed Networks and Collaboration Following a Technological Disaster
Jeannette Sutton
Informal communication channels are often the primary means by which time-sensitive hazard information first reaches members of the public. The capacity for informal communications has been recently transformed by the widespread adoption of social media technologies, such as the micro-blogging service Twitter, which allows individuals to interact with a broad audience over great distances. During a disaster or crisis event, this networked communication mechanism provides a means to communicate information and facilitate collaboration both locally and among distributed networks. This paper examines the use of Twitter following a technological disaster, showing how geographically dispersed individuals broadcast information about the impact of the disaster and its long-term effects, in contrast with the dearth of participation among public officials and industry representatives. Non-local users challenged authoritative accounts of the disaster and corrected misinformation. Conclusions are provided for policy makers and suggestions are offered for further research.
Suttton, Jeannette N. (2010) "Twittering Tennessee: Distributed Networks and Collaboration Following a Technological Disaster." Proceedings of the 7th International ISCRAM Conference. Seattle, USA, May 2010.
Social Media Monitoring and the Democratic National Convention: New Tasks and Emergent Processes
Jeannette Sutton
Abstract: Public information officers and FEMA external affairs personnel routinely monitor online media reports in times of crises and disaster events. Online news sources now include citizen driven social media such as blogs, i-reports, photo and video sharing and networked information and communication technologies such as Facebook, MySpace, and the microblogging network, Twitter. While these communication mechanisms are increasing, little is known about the attention public officials devote to accessing, monitoring, and addressing public communication through social media. Utilizing data gathered through observations, interviews, and document analysis, this study concentrates on the new task of social media monitoring and the emergent processes used by public officials during the 2008 Democratic National Convention. Although some strategies were developed to monitor and utilize social media, there was a tendency to fall back upon standard operating procedures, limiting the emergence of new processes. Recommendations are provided for media monitoring activities in future crisis and disaster response.
Sutton, Jeannette N. (2009) "Social Media Monitoring and the Democratic National Convention: New Tasks and Emergent Processes," Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management: Vol. 6 : Iss. 1, Article 67.
http://www.bepress.com/jhsem/vol6/iss1/67
Backchannels on the Front Lines: Emergent Uses of Social Media in the 2007 Southern California Wildfires
Jeannette Sutton, Leysia Palen, and Irina Shklovski
Collective Intelligence in Disaster: Examination of the Phenomenon in the Aftermath of the 2007 Virginia Tech Shooting
Sarah Vieweg, Leysia Palen, Sophia B. Liu, Amanda L. Hughes, and Jeannette Sutton
Crisis Informatics: Studying Crisis in a Networked World
Leysia Palen, Sarah Vieweg, Jeannette Sutton, Sophia B. Lui, and Amanda Hughes
Finding Community Through Information and Communication Technology During Disaster Events
Irina Shklovski, Leysia Palen, and Jeannette Sutton
In Search of the Bigger Picture: The Emergent Role of On-Line Photo Sharing in Times of Disaster
Sophia B. Liu, Leysia Palen, Jeannette Sutton, Amanda L. Hughes, and Sarah Vieweg
"Site-Seeing" in Disaster: An Examination of On-Line Social Convergence
Amanda L. Hughes, Leysia Palen, Jeannette Sutton, Sophia B. Liu, and Sarah Vieweg
