Project EPIC

Social Media in Times of Crisis: The Australian Perspective

Axel Bruns

• 23 Oct. 2013 – Project EPIC research symposium, Boulder

From major floods to devastating bushfires, Australia has experienced an exceptional series of natural disasters in recent years. Social media have proven to play an increasingly important role in the response to these disasters, both as tools for the dissemination of crisis updates to the public and in the discovery of situational information from affected populations in the disaster area. This paper will provide an overview of current research into the uses of social media during crises at Queensland University of Technology, and outline some further directions for research.