Crisis Research

Mass Convergence within Disaster and Humanitarian Response

The emCOMP Lab continues to explore mass participation in the context of crisis (i.e., large-scale, natural, and man-made disasters). Disaster events have long been catalysts for physical convergence behavior by both formal responders and spontaneous volunteers. Digital convergence is now occurring in the wake of disaster events, whereby people all over the world come together in social media spaces, participating in a number of capacities, including sharing information about the unfolding event and helping to process information. Spontaneous as well as formally organized digital volunteerism, mediated by social media platforms, has quickly become a recognized feature of the informational landscape after disaster events. The emCOMP Lab pursues empirical research and design opportunities in this space, seeking to find ways to support and leverage digital volunteerism and other forms of social media participation during crises, and to integrate the products of these activities into formal response.

Designing a Tool for Collaborative Crisis Curation

In an ongoing effort at emCOMP, researchers are working to design and implement a tool that will help distributed teams of digital volunteers collaboratively monitor and process social media during disaster events. In the past few years, groups of remote volunteers have formed with the goal of collectively processing social media data to assist in response efforts. Currently, these groups rely on ad hoc infrastructures and work practices to coordinate their work. We have completed a first round of user studies examining their tools and practices with the goal of designing to support this work. We will begin implementing our initial designs and doing user testing in 2013/2014.

The Information Ecosystem of Crisis Response

Researchers at emCOMP are currently investigating the role of social media within the larger information space during three events: the 2010 Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, Hurricane Irene (2011), and Hurricane Sandy (2012).  In these empirical studies, we combine qualitative, quantitative and network analysis of digital traces of social media activity with (for the latter events) interviews with those communicating during disaster events to map information flows across different media, uncovering a complex information ecosystem. Goals of this research include revealing gaps in information access and informing more effective risk communication strategies during crisis events.

© Kate Starbird 2013