Potential Applications of Social Media and Social Networking in Local Disaster Response

Potential Applications of Social Media and Social Networking in Local Disaster Response

Dennis D. McDonald
Blogging, Disaster Response, Emergency, Expertise Management, Homeland Security, Local, Management Tools, , , Tagging, Technology, Telecommunications
People use the tools available to them when a crisis hits. Increasingly these tools include blogs, text messaging, and social networking systems such as Facebook. The use of such communication tools in disaster and emergency situations is evidence of an obvious fact: the people most involved in an emergency are going to communicate about it. The question is, how can those in an official capacity take advantage of these communication channels?

Twitter as Turing Test

Dennis D. McDonald
Artificial Intelligence, Turing,
While walking the dog this morning I listened to the Scientific American Science Talk podcast for September 26 where psychologist Robert Epstein talked about being fooled by one of the many automated “chatterbots” that exist on the Web as artificial intelligence demonstrators. The interview made me think about Twitter and the disjointed nature of some of the “conversations” one can follow online via that service.

Fair Use Antics

Dennis D. McDonald
Business Models, Copyright, DMCA, DRM, Fair Use, Podcast, Publishing,
I'm listening to another one of Command Line's podcasts, this time Rant: Is Fair Use a Right? (Command Line produces one of my five favorite podcasts.) Despite the logical nature of Command Line's thesis (he believes that copyright Fair Use is a "right," not just a legal defense) I'm still skeptical about being able to unambiguously explain to people what their "fair use" rights actually are.
Apple, iPods, and Personal Data Portability

Apple, iPods, and Personal Data Portability

Dennis D. McDonald
Apple, Copyright, Identity, Personal Data Ownership, , , , Web 2.0, iPod, iTunes
I've been busy lately. My blogging has suffered. I've tried to update my blog's "daily notes" (located on my home page and archived here) but that's about it. I'm working offline on some longer white papers, I'm starting a new client project next week, I've been involved in a non-stop series of proposals and statements of work, and I've had to keep my plants watered during the drought here on the U.S. East Coast. Meanwhile, there are some really interesting "tech" things going on.
School Communications & Emergency Response: What are the Implications for Social Media?

School Communications & Emergency Response: What are the Implications for Social Media?

Dennis D. McDonald
Best Practices, Disaster Response, Emergency, Homeland Security, Policy, , , communications, eGovernment, Security, Communications
I’ve been reading documents from a page of links relevant to emergency planning for schools that is maintained by the Texas A&M University’s Integrative Center for Homeland Security. According to the Center’s blog, the list was started in response to the Virginia Tech shooting. I’m looking for information on the implications of using social media and social networking systems as part of the “mix” of communication tools that are relevant in an emergency.
Load More