Social Media in Time of Disasters

Dear Reader,

     As a blossoming social media user, I am amazed at how instrumental it truly can be when disaster strikes. Take the recent two earthquakes in Haiti and Chile. People have been using Twitter and others social media tools to find family and friends when other forms of communication have been cut off. Power lines fall and electricity goes out, but people still have Internet access...espcially on their mobile devices. So they scurry to post on Twitter and Facebook. They search the Web for traces of those they desperately hope have made it through the catastrophy alive.

     Because so many people are social media users, those in the area of the disaster may be able to report events, deaths, injuries, and lives saved than reporters, rescue squads, and law officers. It allows for citizens to help in some small way. While fallacies can be perpetuated due to incomplete information, factual accounts can also spread rapidly. In some ways, social media in the hands of general users is taking over the place of reporters.

    Social media also allows people to express their concern and support to those who are effected  by traumatic events. Twitter is now replete with messages from people expressing their sadness over the quake in Chile. There is also indignation over topics that are more popular than the terremoto. Ironically, this adds to the volume of references to those stigmatized subjects.

     Social media, such as Twitter and Facebook, is changing the way in which we respond to disasters. People who aren't in the Communication or Social Media field are able to play a larger part in informing the public. Support groups, friends and relatives are able to still communicate even with power outages. Information travels so much faster and this may lead to saved lives, relieved friends and family, and other untold miracles.

Symbolic Interaction 2

Now for the second installment of symbolic interaction...

     Let's look at the second component of the theory I mentioned: reflections in a looking glass. Social media expands the number of places in which it is possible to self-disclose. Not only that, but the type of disclosure varies widely. Much se-lf disclosure that is available for everyone to see on social media sites such as Twitter or Facebook is only surface level material. The way in which people must imagine others see them is changed. The dynamics of interaction are changed. In most cases, there is not an ability to see each other physically. Instead, avatars or photos may be used. Feedback is often given in the form of typed messages. The contextual clues that are present in face-to-face communication are lacking. Thus, taking the role of the other in order to imagine how we appear to them is more difficult. This could lead to a higher discrepency between our imagined appearance to others and the way in which others actually appear to us. If, like Mead claimed, we incorporate those images into our self-portrait, we must be careful to realize that social media changes the communication cues that we give and recieve.

     Similar thoughts can be expressed about others' expectations. They must be interpreted through the cold medium of type augmented with the few symbols can be put to use to express feelings. In some ways, we are constantly bombarded with others' expectations in social media. It is extremely easy quickly respond to a message and voice opinions. This can be a great advantage. It does differ from instantaneous interpersonal face-to-face communication, however. Tone of voice, gestures, and other cues are not present to help provide an interpretation of the message. Still, choice of words, online profile, content creations and etc. can help shape our understanding of what is expected of us and from there, how we react to those expectations.