Social Media and Disasters

Catalog description

The advent of the Internet and Web 2.0 has revolutionized the ways we communicate with one another, including the ways we communicate about risk. This course will examine the usage of social media during disasters beginning with the September 11 terrorist attacks and continuing to the present day. Topics examined will include the strengths and weaknesses of social media as a crisis communication tool; misinformation and misinformation management; and the practical considerations of crowdsourcing. Students will also be introduced to the concept of Virtual Operation Support Teams (VOSTs). In doing so, they will gain first-hand experience monitoring social media; organizing and summarizing social media data; and writing technical reports. Successful completion of this course will give students priority consideration to the University at Albany's Virtual Operation Support Team.