A Guide to Social Media Emergency Management Analytics: Understanding its Place through Typhoon Haiyan Tweets by C. Graham, C. Thompson, M. Wolcott, J. Pollack and M. Tran

摘要

In 2013 the unexpected ferocity of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippians, left a wake of surprised first-responders and victims in great need. The fine June paper in this Journal by Graham et al. demonstrates that the tweets developed then were not only of value in and of themselves in that emergency; but served a larger end - earlier and more rapid dispersion of needed information [1]. Graham et al.'s article offered a statistical method for quick identification of the victim's location and areas of the most Typhoon damage. This, in turn, led to more efficient intervention and better resource allocation. The alternative was to wait for first responders to determine or discover for themselves where victims were located. The time delay this might have caused could have led to even more fatalities. Telling the "Inside Story," as the article does, is thus of great value for the future!