EMPA 2011

Tracking Crises on Twitter: Analysing #qldfloods and #eqnz

Axel Bruns

• 12 Apr. 2011 – Emergency Media and Public Affairs conference, Canberra

Social media platforms including Facebook and Twitter have now emerged as important
additions to the arsenal of crisis communications tools – connecting emergency services
and mainstream media sources with affected citizens on the ground as well as onlookers
from further afield, and functioning also as a backchannel which can be used to send
feedback and requests to the authorities. This paper presents a close analysis of recent
events such as the Queensland floods and the Christchurch earthquake to provide important
insights into the way Twitter was used during these disasters, as well as outlining
approaches to tracking social media activities during future crisis events.