A Social Media Usage Guide for Earthquakes Should Be Prepared

The events after the earthquake centered in Kahramanmaraş Pazarcık once again revealed the importance of using new communication technologies, especially in disaster situations. Experts, pointing to individuals trapped under rubble making calls for help via social media, emphasize the importance of the correct use of new technologies. Experts, drawing attention to the importance of rapidly and accurately informing the public, also underscore the need for a rapid establishment of a social media coordination center and the preparation of a social media usage guide for earthquakes.

Attention when using new communication technologies in disasters!

Üsküdar Üniversitesi Faculty of Communication, Department of Journalism Lecturer Assoc. Prof. Dr. Bahar Muratoğlu Pehlivan evaluated the importance of new communication technologies, especially social media, for communication in disaster situations such as earthquakes.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Bahar Muratoğlu Pehlivan noted that the use of new communication technologies can be very beneficial and vital as a communication tool, especially in disaster situations such as earthquakes.

Useful for informing the public

Stating that new communication technologies play an important role, especially in terms of informing and communicating with the public, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Bahar Muratoğlu Pehlivan said, “For example, social media has become an important tool for relevant institutions, official organizations, experts, and reliable sources to quickly inform the public and publish their statements.”

Calls for help are made via social media

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Bahar Muratoğlu Pehlivan stated that individuals can also communicate via mobile tools and online platforms in emergencies, and added, “Furthermore, images and information can be sent from places that authorities, rescue teams, and journalists have not yet reached, and social media can be used when help is needed. We are seeing examples of this in the recent Kahramanmaraş earthquake.”

Attention must be paid to these points!

Emphasizing that it is extremely important to use these technologies correctly and efficiently to maximize their benefits, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Bahar Muratoğlu Pehlivan listed the points to consider when using communication technologies during disaster situations like earthquakes as follows:

Emergency notifications on phones should be enabled.
SMS and online platforms should be preferred for communication.
Phone calls made in urgent situations should be kept short, and wasting mobile device battery should be avoided.
Safety check tools introduced by social media platforms should be used.
Accounts of reliable institutions, official sources; verification and fact-checking platforms should be followed.
It should always be kept in mind that unconfirmed, unsourced, and unsubstantiated statements may not be accurate, and such content should be approached with skepticism.
Acting as a tool for spreading manipulative, misleading, and incorrect information, fake news, and content that would panic the public should be avoided.
Images containing sensitive content should not be shared, especially unedited.
Attention should be paid to whether accounts making statements via social media have expertise on the subject and are in a position to access information.
In emergencies, social media can be used as a walkie-talkie to reach authorities or people in a specific area.
You can search for tweets sent from a specific area by finding geographical coordinates via Google Maps.
You can find posts from the region using the location notification features of various social media platforms.

Rapid and accurate public information is important!

Üsküdar Üniversitesi Faculty of Communication, Head of Journalism Department Prof. Dr. Süleyman İrvan, emphasizing the importance of accurate information flow during an earthquake, said:

“When an earthquake occurs, citizens strive to learn what is happening as soon as possible. This is quite normal. We may have relatives, friends in the earthquake zone. Naturally, we want to know their fate as soon as possible. In such extraordinary situations, rapidly and accurately informing the public becomes crucial. If there is no healthy information flow, if communication channels do not work, conspiracy theories and hard-to-believe rumors can come into play, which can lead to the spread of panic in society.”

A social media coordination center should be established…

Stating that the importance of social media was better understood in the recent earthquake, Prof. Dr. Süleyman İrvan said, “People can make social media posts and calls for help from under the rubble, but unfortunately, it is not possible for us to know how many of these calls for help are real and how many are fake. My suggestion is to rapidly establish a social media coordination center and create a mechanism to verify the authenticity of the calls made. Instead of restricting social media, we can make it more useful. Official statements should also be made continuously through social media channels, and citizens should be ensured access to accurate information.”