Web 2.0 and Internet Social Networking: A New tool for Disaster Management? - Lessons from Taiwan

Abstract

BackgroundInternet social networking tools and the emerging web 2.0 technologies are providing a new way for web users and health workers in information sharing and knowledge dissemination. Based on the characters of immediate, two-way and large scale of impact, the internet social networking tools have been utilized as a solution in emergency response during disasters. This paper highlights the use of internet social networking in disaster emergency response and public health management of disasters by focusing on a case study of the typhoon Morakot disaster in Taiwan.DiscussionIn the case of typhoon disaster in Taiwan, internet social networking and mobile technology were found to be helpful for community residents, professional emergency rescuers, and government agencies in gathering and disseminating real-time information, regarding volunteer recruitment and relief supplies allocation. We noted that if internet tools are to be integrated in the development of emergency response system, the accessibility, accuracy, validity, feasibility, privacy and the scalability of itself should be carefully considered especially in the effort of applying it in resource poor settings.SummaryThis paper seeks to promote an internet-based emergency response system by integrating internet social networking and information communication technology into central government disaster management system. Web-based networking provides two-way communication which establishes a reliable and accessible tunnel for proximal and distal users in disaster preparedness and management.

A Volunteered Geographic Information Framework to Enable Bottom-Up Disaster Management Platforms

“…Moreover, some social networking websites such as Twitter have API restrictions, such as the API rate limits (https://dev.twitter.com/rest/public/rate-limiting) or restricted historical data download (for example, Twitter's Search API index includes between 6-9 days of tweets (https://dev.twitter.com/rest/public/search)), which hinders data access during a disaster event. Also Internet censorship, which may be imposed by governments, private organizations, or a group of people, to control what can be accessed, published, or viewed on the Internet [13,98,99], can hinder adoption of VGI-based disaster management platforms. However, before these particular cases are to be addressed, there exists the challenge of obtaining political support to enable integration of bottom-up disaster management platforms into emergency management strategies.…”

“…Compared to the Internet, the amount of information published by telephone, radio, or television is limited, and the systems focus on one-direction information flow. This limits the level of interaction possible [13]. Hence, there is a need for platforms that can provide many-to-many communication and offer effective information sharing mechanisms that facilitate rather than impede disaster management.…”

Assessment of Information Sharing Using Social Network Analysis among Health Extension Workers in Konso Woreda: A Cross-Sectional Case Study

“…Though aforementioned concept i.e., sharing information was very important, it might not work in emergency situations where the usual ways of communicating and information exchange may not enough to bring solution unless networked [31]. Of course sharing in health professionals increase as information about that thing increase but for more beneficiaries, it should be networked so as to easy and rapid transferring [32].…”

Implication of Web 2.0 in E-Government

“…An internet-based emergency response system would have allowed people to use mobile telecommunications devices to report events to the government to facilitate search and rescue. By using telecommunications technology such as Web 2.0, microblogging and other social network technologies governments could transform infrastructure to assist individual and communities respond to and recover from disasters [20]. As regards Web 2.0 technology in use, e-government will focus on transparency of its services to provide activities of the administration visible and support cooperation, adaptive and service-oriented information architectures in integration with existing systems and services.…”