and the Christchurch Earthquake

Alice Blair

Danie

l van

Wely

EngPoh

Jessic

aMurphy

Thoma

s Mead

young adults use facebook a lotyeah, you‟re guilty

how did young adults

use facebook during

the recent earthquakes

of 2010 and 2011 ?

new media technologies

do not just add to culture,

they transform it completely

Neil Postman

social media was “used

heavily by the authorities,

media and citizens” in the

Queensland floods disaster.

Mark Freeman

University of Wollongong

“twitter

affords citizen

journalists

the possibility

to break

profound

news stories

to a global

public”

Wayne Xin Zhao

Jing Jiang

“twitter actively help[s]

spread news of

important world events”

Dhiraj

Murthy

most disaster research

focuses on twitter

so we focused on

facebook

a qualitative approach______________________________________

provides “a high level of measurement

precision and statistical power” - Schroder

an online survey

wide range of responses

9

37

91%

%%

overall increase in facebook use

accessed facebook within 24 hours

accessed facebook almost immediately

after the earthquakes

communication

facebook chat was

the

most used tool

posting to walls was

also popular

connected inside

New Zealand

100% 38%

59%connected outside

of New Zealand

contacted place

of education

15%contacted local

organizations

29%contacted their

workplace

information

63%„liked‟ at least one earthquake information page

49%used facebook take part of a volunteer movement

“being able to get instant updates on the earthquakes and aftermath was very practical and useful”

“connected me with all the information I needed”

good feelings

isolation

“I would of felt more alienated from others”

___________________________

“there‟s a community feel on facebook”

“a coping mechanism”

In the event of similar

disaster, we recommend

that organizations (from

work places to response

teams) have an active

voice on facebook.

go spread

the love

virtual communitythe result?

thanksfor watching!