Abstract
While Twitter has been touted as a preeminent source of up-to-date information on hazard events, the reliability of tweets is still a concern. Our previous publication extracted relevant tweets containing information about the 2013 Colorado flood event and its impacts. Using the relevant tweets, this research further examined the reliability (accuracy and trueness) of the tweets by examining the text and image content and comparing them to other publicly available data sources. Both manual identification of text information and automated (Google Cloud Vision, application programming interface (API)) extraction of images were implemented to balance accurate information verification and efficient processing time. The results showed that both the text and images contained useful information about damaged/flooded roads/streets. This information will help emergency response coordination efforts and informed allocation of resources when enough tweets contain geocoordinates or location/venue names. This research will identify reliable crowdsourced risk information to facilitate near real-time emergency response through better use of crowdsourced risk communication platforms.
Highlights
Increased frequency and severity of climate-related hazards and anthropogenic hazards has brought unprecedented challenges to nations and individuals worldwide [1]
According to the Pew Research Center, around 30% of Americans often depend on social media and social networking sites (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, etc.) for their news or information about specific events [4]
We examined the tweet text and images leveraging human intelligence and Google Cloud Vision (GCV) application programming interface (API)
Summary
Increased frequency and severity of climate-related hazards (e.g., floods, wildfires, hurricanes, and heat weaves) and anthropogenic hazards (e.g., mass shooting, epidemics) has brought unprecedented challenges to nations and individuals worldwide [1]. Risk and crisis communication regarding disasters are paramount in helping the population prepare for and respond to extreme events by providing essential information to plan and mitigate potential damages to life and property [2,3]. Traditional mainstream media have adopted new strategies to expand their presence, distribute content, and engage with consumers on social media [5]. Online content created by members of the public is being consumed and shared on various social media platforms (e.g., Twitter), thereby enriching and challenging traditional communication, especially during emergency management phases [6]. Social media platforms have been used during disasters to issue warnings to the public, report damages, engage with stakeholders, and help organize relief efforts [9,10,11,12,13]
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