Crisis Management 2.0: Towards a Systematization of Social Software Use in Crisis Situations

• Main Authors: Christian Reuter, Alexandra Marx, Volkmar Pipek
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Subjects: Eyjafjallajökull; Iceland
• Online Access: http://services.igi-global.com/resolvedoi/resolve.aspx?doi=10.4018/jiscrm.2012010101

In this paper, the authors propose a systematization of social software use in crisis situations, examining different types of cooperation and challenges. The authors discuss how the organizational actors involved in crisis management (police, fire-fighters, organizations, etc.) and the affected citizens are communicating and can communicate and collaborate through the use of social software. After defining the term ‘social software,’ the authors outline its use in crisis management. They present two case studies where they have examined the use of social software in 2010: first during the disruption of air travel caused by the eruptions of the volcano Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland and second during the mass panic at the Love Parade music festival in Germany. Based on both previous work and case studies, the authors discuss potentials and weaknesses and propose a classification matrix for different types of cooperation as a step toward a systematization of social software use in crisis situations.