Kate StarbirdIn ~2014, my colleague & I argued that social media (esp. Twitter) had become part of the critical infrastructure of disaster response. People were turning to Twitter during crises to share information about impacts and resources. Disaster responders were using the data shared there for situational awareness, and were communicating in real-time with their constituents. Today’s events underscore just how dangerous it is for society to come to rely on private platforms as critical infrastructure.
Carl Tucker@katestarbird In 2010 I was arguing that we (the emergency response org I belong to) should build our own private version of Twitter. It would have been easier for field responders to enter data quickly, wouldn't rely on voice reports or getting through on a telephone, would inherently create a chronological timeline, and coordinators could follow what they needed to know and not what they didn't.
Using the actual Twitter was never an option, because un-reviewed sensitive data being released to the public directly from the field techs? Never going to happen.
So of course, we got nothing and continued to use paper and voice telephones for years and years. UNTIL a big real event (that you've heard of) and the de facto communication method self-organized into facebook groups and group texts. That was so embarrassing they finally built us a custom millions-of-dollars app - that still doesn't do what the techs need it to do.