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News from the Future of Public Media
Update: The Hurricane Information Center
email discuss Posted by Jessica Clark on Sep 2, 2008 at 7:43 AM
Thankfully, Gustav has racheted down, but with more storms on the way, the extraordinary social media community that emerged over the long weekend to provide information to storm victims and volunteers has expanded its focus. Now dubbed the Hurricane Information Center, the network currently has more than 540 members, all creating and debating communications tools for disaster response.
The network demonstrates the power and flexibility of using commercial Web 2.0 platforms for the public good. Built using Ning—a “white label” site for creating free customized social networks—the site includes a tailored news feed from Google News, a Google Map displaying evacuation routes, Flickr photos, Twitter posts, Craigslist ads offering help, and contributions from Utterz, a site that allows users to create audio posts using their cellphones. Of course, not all of the content tagged “Gustav” across these sites is relevant or helpful, but given the speed with which these resources were assembled, it’s a start.
As the volunteers ramp up for Hanna, they are assessing the the results of their efforts and looking for ways to refine. Questions include how to create content in multiple languages and for multiple layers of access; the best ways to build out information on Florida, Georgia and South Carolina; and how to keep a dedicated group of volunteers involved once the urgency of the storm season has passed. Real questions remain about how effective the project has been in reaching those affected by the hurricane. Jon Lebkowsky, who worked on similar past efforts, notes that while projects like the Katrina People Finder attracted both attention and volunteers, evidence of actual impact was scarce. “I think we catalyzed some order in the prevailing chaos, but I’ve never seen metrics to suggest that we were effective,” he writes. Harnessing the volunteers to develop impact measurements while they’re still paying attention would be a great use of the resources that organizers have marshaled over the last several days.
Postscript: Read a great interview with Andy Carvin on Poynter about the formation of the network. Says Carvin: “The biggest challenge, I think, is breaking down the walls between journalists and the people formerly known as the audience. If you treat them as an audience—treat them passively—don’t expect to get much more from them than letters to the editor. But the public can act as your bookers, your fixers, your librarians, your engineers and even your producers if you can give them a vision of what you want to accomplish together and the space they need to go do it.”
Visit The Hurricane Information Center
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