Visualizing Location Based Social Media Data: The Development of New Tools for Research and Practice

During Hurricane Sandy, social media postings provided current, local, detailed, and continuous flows of information on storm conditions and community needs. To improve emergency response and increase the use of social media during times of extreme duress, The National Center for Disaster Preparedness (NCDP), of the Earth Institute, Columbia University, has distributed a geospatial query tool that will enable the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) researchers to download, analyze, and share thousands of location-based social media data records from Hurricane Sandy and other past disasters. NCDP is also developing a web portal to provide social media training and data resources to facilitate collaboration among the research grantees, public health agencies, first responder organizations, and the communities they serve. This presentation will highlight the evaluation outcomes of this project for increased use of online data resources and communication tools to enhance Hurricane Sandy research efforts and improve disaster response. Evaluation findings will also shed light on the nature of instantaneous resource and information exchange between residents and public health agencies, while also highlighting best practices for usage of location based online social media during future catastrophic events.