285378
Turning down the volume: The use of dynamic social media searches during superstorm sandy
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
: 12:30 PM - 12:50 PM
Sara Harris, MA
,
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, DC
Kelly Bennett, MPH
,
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, DC
Alicia Livinski, MPH, MLS
,
Library, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD
Social media is playing an increasingly important role in public health informatics. Uses vary from public health messaging, rumor control, smoking cessation, to tracking disease trends and potential outbreaks through the use of Google Flu and MappyHealth, and building situational awareness during public health emergencies. This presentation will highlight how the monitoring of Twitter was used to enhance situational awareness and early event detection during the HHS response to Superstorm Sandy in 2012. During a disaster there may be a tidal wave of information inundating both social media and those that are monitoring it. The information ranges from citizens voicing opinions, to key reports that could impact decision-making during an emergency response. However, sorting through this flood of information in an efficient and focused manner is difficult and time consuming. The ability to tune out background “noise” (or to turn down its volume) is essential to effectively utilizing social media to identify the truly important and useful information during an emergency response. Fusion Cell staff developed and implemented highly targeted Boolean searches during Superstorm Sandy to turn down the volume on background noise when monitoring Twitter. The ability to include and exclude very specific words and phrases enabled staff to filter incoming information more efficiently by subject matter, geography, and health threats. This search strategy was dynamic and responsive to real-time developments, evolving health threats, and the needs of decision-makers. This presentation will provide a brief background on the use of social media during public health emergency response. It will then outline Fusion's strategy for narrowing down the focus of its searches, tools utilized, and follow how the monitoring of Twitter evolved from pre- and post-landfall as additional health threats and concerns arose in the aftermath of the storm. Finally, lessons learned from the overall process will be shared.
Learning Areas:
Communication and informatics
Other professions or practice related to public health
Learning Objectives:
Differentiate between social media "noise" and useful information.
Design social media searches that target specific topics, geographies or health issues.
Evaluate the effectiveness of a social media search and identify ways to alter the search to account for changing situations.
Presenting author's disclosure statement:Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I currently manage the Fusion Cell Twitter account and have in the past managed Twitter accounts for multiple national level environmental non-profits. I have organized and maintained the Fusion search strategies used in multiple major disasters including Hurricane Isaac and Superstorm Sandy. During those disasters I also trained Public Health Service officers on our monitoring process.
Any relevant financial relationships? No
I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines,
and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed
in my presentation.
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