Superstorm Sandy and Digital Citizenship

1. Before The Storm

1.1. New York Office of Emergency Management

1.1.1. "Throughout the storm, NYC Digital, a part of the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, monitored social media for public reactions to the storm, sending reports to City Hall on a daily basis. Questions asked on Twitter were responded to directly, and the city’s Tumblr account and Facebook page published information from each press conference. The public could sign up to receive text alerts from the Mayor’s Office Twitter account, @nycmayorsoffice, which served as a great alternative digital resource to the city’s website, once people lost power and Internet access. "

1.2. Maryland Emergency Management Agency

1.2.1. The Maryland Emergency Management Agency used Twitter to direct citizens to a Pinterest page containing emergency preparedness tips.

2. During The Storm

2.1. Google Crisis Maps

2.1.1. The Google Crisis Team created a map with layers of information aggregated from state, local and federal officials as well as crowd sourced data.

2.2. Fairfax County Virginia

2.2.1. Fairfax County Virginia's multi-faceted approach involved both reverse 911 and SMS messages as well as a road closure and crowd sourced map updated hourly for "better situational awareness".

3. After The Storm

3.1. Digital Communication

3.1.1. FEMA set up a page to refute rumors and provide disaster relief information to those in need.

3.1.2. Digital Citizens created Facebook groups and Twitter #hashtags to aggregate information, direct those in need to assistance and help those offering assistance to those who needed it.

4. Summary

4.1. "On Twitter and Instagram," says Haot, "there’s incredible documentation happening across the various boroughs that helps us to better allocate resources... We get a lot of information that previously wasn’t there." Users aren’t just pleasing their followers by posting pictures of flooded streets — they’re telling the city where there’s trouble.

4.2. Hurricane Sandy marked a shift in the use of social media in disasters. More than ever before, government agencies turned to mobile and online technologies. Before, during and after Sandy made landfall, government agencies throughout the Northeast used social media to communicate with the public and response partners, share information, maintain awareness of community actions and needs, and more.

4.3. In the week after the storm, an Occupy kitchen in Sunset Park was serving upwards of 10,000 meals a day, its volunteers recruited through social media. The movement has signed on more than 15,000 volunteers through the web. “Everything we do is social-network oriented,” Carr says. “Social media is non-hierarchical, grassroots, open – it’s an incredible way to assess what’s going on and to get resources on the ground.”