Social Media as a Catalyst in Disaster Risk Governance

Abstract

In the last one decade, social media has grown exponentially, invading geographical limitations, administrative boundaries, and even the apparent illiteracy of technology for aid. Meanwhile, this development has helped to veer off from the traditional trajectory of predominantly one-way line of communication in mainstream media, from a media-audience relationship to a media-actor/responder frame. Although there are various usages of social media before, during, and after a disaster such as early warning dissemination, preparedness guidelines, occurrence, aid requirements, and information shared in the immediate event become critical for effective response, often however resulting in a flood of information on social media, popularly referred to as “infodemic,” posing a major challenge in the decision-making process and overall management of disaster. Hence, there is a requirement of “social media policy” that places emphasis on the state-specific mandates for the usage of social media during the time of disasters for acting as a catalyst in the decision-making process and enhancing the response mechanism during the time of disasters. This chapter tries to explore the current integration of social media in disaster management plans while exploring the current trends and challenges in the usage of social media for disaster response.