Twitter Reactions to Natural Disasters

(People congregate in front of a building that still has wireless internet access in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy in New York October 30, 2012.)

Through social networking, people can get up-to-the-minute news, not by TV news or newspapers these days. Although the social network can provide unsubstantiated things and spread rumors quickly, Twitter has gained attention for its role in the rescue efforts in natural disasters. When the earthquake and tsunami happened in Japan March, 2011, many Japanese Twitter users used Twitter as a way of exchanging information about how to manage the situation. Also, they took social networks to search for family or friends because voice access was restricted on many mobile phones, but people were able to text and use data services. At that time, Twitter posted a guide for Japanese users to help people get information and communicate with friends and family in the earthquake's aftermath, offering tips and resources in Japanese and English.

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About a year and a half after the tsunami in Japan, Hurricane Sandy hit portions of the Caribbean and the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern of the United States, and the devastation of Sandy hit millions. Many people turned to Twitter to discuss what they are going through like as Japanese did when they suffered from the earthquake. Twitter created a Sandy hashtag page(#Sandy) in order that people could get Sandy-related news more easily. The page displayed manually selected tweets plucked from official accounts like those of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Governor Chris of New Jersey, who as particularly active on the network.

Users posted immediately their own photos and descriptions about what the situation is, and many of the images were republished in the live coverage by news websites and aired on television broadcasts. People reached out to their friends and family through Twitter to know whether they are alright. "We learned from the storm and tsunami in Japan that Twitter can often be a lifeline."said Rachael Horwitz, a Twitter spokeswoman. As she said, Twitter showed the possibility that Twitter could one day become a national broadcast system in the case of emergency.