Peering into disaster: social software use from the indian ocean earthquake to the mumbai bombings

By examining the use of social software across multiple disasters of the 21
^st
century, we can better understand social software use, user-centered design, and trends in communication. Looking across these disasters, we can trace from the early connections made by participants through the channels of the mainstream media up to more recent disasters in which participants were able to use numerous systems to locate data, validate it as information, and distribute it as knowledge. As participation across these systems reaches tipping points in terms of participation and media awareness, people will find more population to communicate and share information. The solutions will be in how we provide ways for them to be active participants, how well the mainstream media cooperates with these participants to further distribute information about key sites of activity, and how empowered moderators feel to create their own spaces for communities to meet and exchange details. Keywords: social software, user-centered design, disaster, sociotechnical systems.