Twituational awareness: gaining situational awareness via crowdsourced #disaster epidemiology

Authors
Cain, Daniel T.
Subjects
Situational Awareness
Social Media
Twitter
Disaster Epidemiology
Public Health
Internet
Web 2.0
Emergency Response
Emergency Management
Advisors
Josefek, Robert
Fernandez, Lauren
Date of Issue
2013-09
Date
Sep-13
Publisher
Monterey California: Naval Postgraduate School
Language
Abstract
Public health and other agencies need situational awareness to respond effectively to disasters or other incidents. Traditional means of obtaining this information require significant time and personnel. Social media is becoming increasingly popular among American citizens, and research is demonstrating that it may be a useful tool for bolstering information about unfolding events. This research analyzed the potential of the microblogging service Twitter in providing situational awareness. Tweets from a major snowstorm affecting the state of Massachusetts were collected, coded for content, and compared to traditional public health methods. The results indicate that Twitter can provide a rich source of data for responding agencies. Still, the immense volume of conversations makes extracting useful information in a timely manner a significant challenge. Practical approaches uncovered during this research can help agencies with nascent social media surveillance programs begin to unearth the valuable information that Twitter contains. Collaboration with information technology experts could allow public health and other responding agencies to create even greater value from social media platforms.
Type
Thesis
Description
CHDS State/Local
URI
https://hdl.handle.net/10945/37594
Series/Report No
Department
National Security Affairs
Organization
Identifiers
NPS Report Number
Sponsors
Funder
Format
Citation
Distribution Statement
Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.
Rights
Copyright is reserved by the copyright owner.
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