State of social media technologies for disaster preparedness in Asia Pacific region

This report aims to contribute to a comprehensive understanding of the implications of social media analysis tools for disaster preparedness, focusing on the Asia Pacific region. The research it is based on follows a technology-in-practice approach, that is, it examines users’ practices enacted in their interaction with technological features and functions (e.g., message broadcasting on Twitter, visual analytical tools on ThinkUp) in different situations. Specifically, this research aims to solicit data from humanitarian organizations’ self-reported opinions and usage of social media and related analysis tools, which helps answer the practical question of whether and in what ways organizations’ information behaviour (i.e., communicating on social media, monitoring and assessing information via analysis tools) leads to disaster preparedness and resilience building.

As a result, findings of this research are useful and relevant to multiple stakeholders involved in disaster preparedness. In particular, humanitarian organizations will benefit from this research in gaining knowledge about whether and how to use new technologies such as social media and related analysis tools in their existing programs of disaster preparedness and community engagement. As well, community members can benefit from the findings of this research by knowing whether and how to utilize social media in building up resources with humanitarian organizations for short-term disaster preparedness and long-term community resilience.