Web-Based Interactive Technologies and the Response to Warnings for Extreme Events

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The project is investigating the diffusion of emergency relevant actionable information, such as warnings, through social media. Specifically, the research will assess warning models from social sciences in the context of social media, determine the contribution of social media to warnings of extreme events, and develop an algorithmic approach for processing voluminous amount of social media data in order to extract relevant and actionable information. The research combines on site interviews of emergency management personnel with processing and analyzing social media data. The algorithmic approach incorporates various data processing techniques with classic social network analysis methods. Additionally, a content analysis is used to evaluate the information hidden in social media data. The specific event that serves as an organizing focus of the research is a magnitude 9.0 earthquake and the resulting tsunami in Sendai, Japan.The results of this research will enrich our understanding of the role of social media in the communication of warnings during extreme events. Additionally, this effort will provide suggestions on ways to incorporate social media in emergency management. Emergency managers will have a faster and more effective means to reach the public with emergency information. Moreover, this research offers an opportunity for new members of the research community, such as graduate student researchers from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and first generation undergraduate research assistants from Le Moyne College, to participate in a project whose results will offer recommendations for improving emergency management, and most importantly, provide insights for practice that can save lives.