Beyond tweets and alerts: New role of social media in disaster management

The study finds that social media is no longer considered a non-traditional tool for emergency communication. Instead, it has become an integral part of situational awareness, public engagement, and coordination at both the local (county/town) and non-local (state/federal) levels. Seventy-five percent of surveyed professionals reported using social media for emergency management either daily or weekly.

In an era where disasters - both natural and human-made - are increasing in frequency and severity, emergency management (EM) agencies must adapt to new technologies to enhance their response capabilities. Social media has emerged as a critical tool, enabling real-time communication, crowd-sourced situational awareness, and public mobilization. While social media’s role in crisis management has been studied extensively, there has been limited research on its actual use and evolving patterns among emergency practitioners.

A new study titled “Engage and Mobilize! Understanding Evolving Patterns of Social Media Usage in Emergency Management”, authored by Hemant Purohit, Cody Buntain, Amanda Lee Hughes, Steve Peterson, Valerio Lorini, and Carlos Castillo, published in Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction (April 2025), sheds light on how EM professionals in the U.S. and Europe leverage social media across different phases of disaster management. Using a mixed-method approach, including a survey of 150 emergency professionals and follow-up interviews with 11 practitioners, the study examines how agencies are integrating social media into decision-making, communication, and public mobilization strategies. 

Social media: A mainstream tool for emergency management

The study finds that social media is no longer considered a non-traditional tool for emergency communication. Instead, it has become an integral part of situational awareness, public engagement, and coordination at both the local (county/town) and non-local (state/federal) levels. Seventy-five percent of surveyed professionals reported using social media for emergency management either daily or weekly. Practitioners at the local level find social media particularly valuable for real-time disaster assessment and public alerts. Agencies increasingly rely on social media for two-way communication, not just for broadcasting information but also for mobilizing public action.

The research categorizes social media use into four core areas: dissemination, which involves sending out alerts, updates, and official communications; collection, which refers to gathering information from the public to enhance situational awareness; engagement and mobilization, which focuses on interacting with citizens and encouraging action; and cooperation, which enables collaboration with other agencies and volunteer groups. The study finds that social media has become a key tool not just during response efforts but also in the preparedness and recovery phases.

How emergency practitioners use social media across disaster phases

A major advantage of social media is its ability to provide real-time insights into unfolding crises. EM practitioners use social media to assess the extent and magnitude of disasters, analyze the impact on infrastructure and population, and monitor official updates from other agencies. However, challenges remain, particularly with geolocation of incidents and verifying information integrity. Eighty percent of local emergency practitioners rate social media as “very high” or “somewhat high” in value for analyzing disaster magnitude.

Agencies use social media for public communication and information sharing, including disseminating critical updates such as road closures, evacuation orders, and safety tips, correcting misinformation during crises, and engaging with media outlets to ensure accurate crisis coverage. Fifty-eight percent of surveyed professionals believe social media is essential for ensuring accurate information reaches the public.

Beyond information sharing, social media is now a tool for mobilization. Agencies use it to encourage citizens to prepare before disasters strike, solicit real-time reports from affected communities, and direct volunteers to areas where help is needed. The study highlights that agencies are now engaging communities during preparedness phases to build trust and readiness before disasters occur. A key finding is that public engagement is now considered a performance metric, with agencies tracking “likes,” “shares,” and “comments” to measure how well they are reaching audiences.

Emergency response is a collective effort, requiring collaboration across different agencies. The study finds that social media is used for cross-agency coordination between local, state, and federal responders, sharing updates with community organizations, CERTs, and NGOs, and addressing resource allocation and operational planning. Volunteer groups and local organizations play an increasing role in social media-based emergency response. Agencies are now partnering with community-based organizations to enhance response efforts.

Challenges and barriers in social media adoption

While social media presents immense opportunities, the study also identifies several challenges that hinder its full adoption in emergency management. The first major challenge is information fragmentation and overload, as multiple platforms such as Twitter/X, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Nextdoor make it difficult for emergency professionals to monitor and manage information effectively. The fragmentation of social media platforms makes it harder to reach all citizens. A solution needed is multi-platform analytics tools to consolidate crisis information from diverse social media sources.

Another critical barrier is misinformation and fake news, as false or misleading information can spread rapidly during disasters, making it difficult for agencies to maintain public trust. To address this, AI-driven misinformation detection tools could help agencies verify and correct crisis-related misinformation. Lack of dedicated resources is another challenge, with 36% of respondents identifying lack of human resources and management support as a key barrier. A solution would be formal training programs and AI-powered automation tools to support social media monitoring and engagement. Additionally, privacy and ethical concerns require careful navigation of privacy laws and ethical guidelines, which calls for standardized policies for social media engagement to ensure transparency and responsible data use.

Future of social media in emergency management: What’s next?

Based on the study’s findings, several policy and technological advancements are recommended for enhancing the role of social media in disaster management. Strengthening social media policy and training is crucial, including developing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for social media engagement, training emergency responders in real-time social media analytics, and formalizing partnerships with volunteer networks such as CERTs, VOSTs, and NGOs. Leveraging AI and automation can help process large volumes of crisis data, detect misinformation, and deploy chatbots for emergency Q&A to assist with public inquiries.

Multi-platform crisis communication is another key area for improvement, with integrated dashboards needed for real-time social media monitoring, automated alerts across multiple platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram, and geo-tagged updates to ensure accurate location-based crisis response.