Emergency Response to the Boston Marathon Bombings: Looking to Social Media for Information, Resources, and Connections

Boston is my second home.  I lived there for 6 years.  I went to school there.  I made some of the best friends of my life there.  I got married there.  I spent many Marathon Mondays along the race route cheering for friends, colleagues, and absolute strangers.  As many have reported on the news, Marathon Monday is the best day of the year in Boston and you have to experience it to truly understand its excitement and feeling of community.

I am absolutely heartbroken about yesterday's bombing at the Marathon.  In tears, I sat and watched the news alone in my home.  However, I did not feel alone.  As news broke, I quickly connected with Boston friends via text and social media to make sure they were okay.  Many had been watching at various points along the route.  I also connected with public health colleagues to follow the news and to catalog resources and information being deployed to my friends in Boston and also to those of us watching from home.

As with Hurricane Sandy last November, I think it is important to document all the ways that social media is being used to disseminate information and support public health and emergency management.  Here are the key themes that I saw:

Immediate Public Safety Concerns and Instructions

With the #tweetfromthebeat hashtag, Boston Police communicated regularly with twitter followers, instructing marathon spectators to clear the area around the finish line and refrain from congregating in large crowds.

Investigation

To assist with the investigation, Boston Police and FBI are asking all spectators and eyewitnesses to submit video and photos taken at the finish line.  This message has been widely disseminated via social media.

Reconnecting Runners, Spectators, and Resources

As we have seen with emergency management of natural disasters, social media and technology play a critical role in reconnecting victims with their families and friends.  For example, the following resources were quickly deployed on social media:

• American Red Cross: Safe and Well
• Google: Person Finder
• Google document: Local Boston residents offering shelter to displaced runners/friends/families

Resources for Journalists

Along with tweets from respected news organizations and reporters reminding each other not to speculate early on in the investigation, there were also formal resources circulated regarding how to effectively cover such a story.  For example, the Dart Center for Journalism & Trauma offers comprehensive resources on the reporting of disasters and terrorist attacks.  A resource focusing specifically on the Boston Marathon bombings was tweeted out:

Mental Health & Support Resources

Many public health professionals linked to resources to support those in distress following the bombings and/or those who needed help communicating about the events (e.g., discussing it with children).

HHS Secretary Sebelius tweeted about federal disaster resources:

Philadelphia (like many other cities) tweeted about local disaster resources:

Massachusetts General Hospital and other organizations tweeted out tips for discussing the Boston Marathon bombings with children:

As I discussed in my coverage of Sandy, the power of social media also brings challenges to public health and emergency management.  We have seen some early postings about the lessons learned from this event- which does include a discussion of concerns such as rumors spreading rapidly on social media.  For example, it was first reported that cell coverage in Boston was being turned off so that additional bombs could not be detonated remotely.  We later learned that information was not true.  The cell service was slow or not operational due to the extreme overload of users trying to communicate simultaneously.  There was also a lot of concern about very disturbing images of the crime scene and victims being shared on social media.

So there is much to learn about the use of social media for public health and emergency management through close examination of this event and others.  In any case, it is very clear that social media needs to be a part of every organization's disaster and response plan. 

Tell me what you think:

• What was your impression of the use of social media by federal/state/local organizations yesterday after the Boston Marathon bombings?  
• Can you share additional examples of how it was used effectively?  
• What did you see that concerned you?

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A Superstorm of Social Media

Over the past week, there has been widespread discussion regarding the broad reach and value of social media during Superstorm Sandy.  Jim Garrow wrote about the emergency management field's adoption of social media and the powerful influx of images received through those channels.  In the New York Times, Brian Stelter and Jennifer Preston discussed how public officials use social media during a crisis.  Technology bloggers have posted analyses regarding the increase in internet use during the storm.

So what can Pop Health add?  I wanted to break down "social media use" even further.  I wanted to discuss the specific ways in which I saw it being used.  And although I think we all have a primarily positive view of social media's contribution during an emergency, I think it is also important to highlight some of the challenges that may appear with these communication channels.

Let's start with the good stuff!  During and after the storm, I saw social media being used for:

Individual-Level Advocacy

Affected residents used social media to communicate directly with local and state officials to report property damage, ask questions, and request direct assistance.  For example:

• As the screen shot above shows, Cory Booker (the Mayor of Newark, NJ) has been corresponding directly with his residents on twitter and following up with the necessary supplies or services.

• Locally in Philadelphia, I've seen the same thing with Mayor Michael Nutter.  He has been messaging with citizens about downed trees and power, in order to direct assistance to areas that need it the most.

Community-Level Advocacy

One thing that amazed me during Sandy was the power of social media in terms of advocacy on behalf of whole communities (whether they be particular neighborhoods or cities).

• When Margate, Longport, and Brigantine, NJ were reopened after the storm, there was immediate and overwhelming protest to the toll on the Margate bridge.  Residents felt that it was extremely insensitive (and selfish) for the bridge owners to charge storm refugees to get back onto the island (especially when they had no choice but to take that particular route).  Through protests on twitter and Facebook, the bridge owners were persuaded to reverse their decision to charge.

• The decision to cancel the NYC marathon was a difficult- and some would say delayed- decision.  While objections to the marathon (and the resources it would require) were widespread, much of the discussion happened on social media.  These channels were used to post online petitions and plan protests.  As you know, the race was finally canceled two days before the start.

Donations

Social media has been a key place to ask for donations to help the victims of Sandy.  Some strategies have been more traditional (e.g., asking for donations for the Red Cross).  Others have been quite creative!

• For example, runners in the canceled NYC marathon could follow a link posted on twitter in order to donate their hotel room to someone displaced by the storm.

The power of social media lies in its reach and ability to deliver information in real time.  On the flip side, the concern is that false information can spread quickly as well.  Here are a few examples that happened during Sandy:

• If you were using social media when the storm hit, you may remember seeing many unbelievable images.  One that I saw over and over was a group of soldiers guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.  However, we later learned that this image was taken back in September.  Mashable pulled together a list of "7 Fake Hurricane Sandy Photos You're Sharing on Social Media".  

• A congressional campaign manager in NYC resigned after sending out false information on twitter.  One of the rumors he started was that the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange had 3 feet of flood water.  Many of his tweets are shown here.

As you can imagine, there is great danger to the public's health if incorrect information is widely shared.  Residents may panic and evacuate from a location that is actually safe.  Emergency management and public officials may be distracted from the work at hand, because they have to deal with clarifying a rampant and destructive rumor.

I think we can all agree that the value of social media in a crisis far outweighs the potential challenges.  However, this is an important conversation to keep having and I'd like to hear from you:

• In addition to the examples above, how did you see social media used during Sandy?
• How can we be even more innovative?  In what ways could we use social media during a crisis that we haven't yet tried?
• How can we prevent false information from spreading during a crisis?

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