Twitter Lessons From the Boston Marathon Bombings

Posted by emCOMP Lab on April 15, 2014

Kate Starbird,  assistant professor in the UW’s department of Human Centered Design & Engineering discusses the use of Twitter during the Boston Marathon Bombings with KUOW.

Hendersen, J. April 15, 2014. “Twitter Lessons from the Boston Marathon Bombings.” KUOW (NPR affiliate) Radio Interview.

Much misinformation tweeted after 2013 Boston Marathon bombing

Posted by emCOMP Lab on March 18, 2014
Researchers have found that misinformation spread widely on Twitter after the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing despite efforts by users to correct rumors that were inaccurate. If that information is incorrect, especially in a crisis, it’s hard for the social media community to gain control and push out accurate information, new research shows.

Ma, M. March 18, 2014. “Much misinformation tweeted after 2013 Boston Marathon bombing.” ScienceDaily.

As Sandy Became #sandy, Emergency Services Got Social

Posted by emCOMP Lab on November 20, 2012

Disasters have been social forever,” Kate Starbird, a crisis informatics researcher at the University of Washington, writes in an email. She ticks off recent catastrophes–the 2004 tsunami, the Virginia Tech shootings, the fires in Colorado this summer. All were social, she says, but Sandy was an “order of magnitude” more so in terms of volume, due to the massive size–and connectivity–of the populations it affected.

 

Baer, Drake. November 9, 2012. “As Sandy Became #sandy, Emergency Services Got Social.” Fast Company.

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