Social Media's Use During Chennai Floods: A Quick Analysis

Socializing in emergencies — a review of the use of social media in emergency situations, a study published in Science Direct points out:

• During disasters social media provides access to relevant and timely information.
• Social media has changed the information dissemination pathways in emergencies.
• Social media enable to transform the ways in which emergencies are tracked.
• Social Media are reliable during disasters when other channels are overwhelmed.
• Social Media can self-regulate misinformation in emergencies through the masses.

If one looks in this backdrop, Social Media, perhaps, has never been used more effectively than in the case of Chennai rains. Credit for it goes as much to the people keen to help as to the reach and effectiveness of the medium.  At a time when main stream media was not giving attention that it needed to Chennai floods, interactive power of the digital medium showed the way. One sure wishes though that mainstream media had refrained from publishing their stories and videos on #chennairainshelp on social media unless and until they were in anyway helping those stranded or helping.

The situation has improved now and relief work is on in full swing. Perhaps time to analyse the contribution made by social media. Adgully spoke to a few industry veterans as to the role played by social media not in the coverage of the calamity but the way their interactive & networking powers and reach were utilised to optimum.

Karthik Nagarajan, ‎National Director - Content & Social Media at GroupM, who believes that social media worked in a rather impactful way, elaborates:

1. First, it filled the void that national news media had left wide open by not covering Chennai Floods for more than a week. People elsewhere got to know that something was terribly wrong and the scale of the disaster was first unravelled itself here
2. At the peak of the disaster, users in and related to Chennai rallied together in an unprecedented way. The way information was shared between people who sought it, had it and amplified it, was overwhelming. It was as though the entire city became one team, united by one cause. It was emotionally overwhelming
3. However, what probably this medium achieved best was to bring out the super human side of regular people and entities. From performers like Karthik Kumar, Sidharth, Chinmayi, to brands like BSNL, NTL, Zomato, The Old Madras Baking Company to countless faceless others on the medium, the lengths they have gone to make a difference is inspirational.  

He has an endorser in Nimesh Shah, Head Maven & Co-Founder, Windchimes Communications, who presents an almost similar perspective. He points out that social media was used very effectively and it helped in:

1. Information Exchange (which areas are safe, which areas should be avoided)

2. Volunteers

3. Raising funds and

4. Showcasing the real scenario which forces people to act.

He adds, “Also, government has done a fabulous job in aiding the victims and managing this disaster.” 

As to what could have been done better – media experts point out that there is no questioning power of social media platforms. Onus is on people to come together and use them to the optimum. Pratap Bose, MD & Chairman, Social Street opines, “At the end, they are mediums and whatever has been done is out of free will which is really commendable. It is up to public how to use the channels to bring relief. Also, maybe use of technology to navigate people or similar to that could have been incorporated.”

Sanjay Mehta, Joint CEO, Mirum India, too points out that we as users of social media ‘could have handled authentic information, creating right helplines, quick rescue boards in a better way.’ 

Social media, indeed, did a great job. However, there were a few things that could have been avoided. Karthik states, “Rumours and amplification of unverified information are infinitely more potent during disaster times. It is saddening that so much of the effort and time which were in short supply ended up being wasted because of them.”

Sanjay too states people or organisations should have checked the authenticity of information before putting it up. He expresses, “I think before spreading information, they should verify it as people may take actions which are not recommended. For example, spreading rumours about crocodiles and all such stuff.” 

Media experts also bring attention to lack of interest on the part of main stream media, specially news channels, until almost the situation was under control.  Pratap expresses, “I would rate them very poorly. South is insulated from media. The rains were happening for more than two weeks but news channel only started covering when everyone started discussing that and the situation was blown out of proportion. We need to be fairly distributed in terms of dissemination of information”

Nimesh though agrees that digital media was used in a much better way, he also brings to fore limitations of mainstream media. He says “He states News (print/TV) have limitations as compared to digital platform. First, there is a limitation in terms of content creators, journalists and other crews. When it comes to social media, people can immediately upload the pictures and can pass the message. There are many content creators as compared to news. Social media gives immediate coverage whereas in print/TV, there is editing and everything which needs to be done. Mobilization of news in TV and print takes time.”

To conclude, Social Media has changed the dynamics from one-directional dissemination of information to large amount of information originating from social media users. This information is of great use to emergency managers. In case of Chennai, it has been even more remarkable because people are not only sharing information but their willingness to help in whichever form they can. This, of course, holds true not only of individual but also organisations.