Abstract
The use of social media in a public emergency is dated back to the terrorist attacks (2001) in the United States. Since then, it is has been used to effectively manage critical happenings in public emergency or disaster events and also for managing future public emergencies. Unfortunately, the underdeveloped countries are far behind in the race to enhance infrastructures that would mitigate or avert critical events from happening. The effects of social media are keyed to public emergencies as it allows the instant flow of communication to a broader population, helps government or organizations locate those affected by the disaster, and to help further those organizations to manage the available resources allocated to that public emergencies effectively. It can be exploiting the appropriate social media tools focusing on the use of ICT before, during, or after the emergency crisis.
 Furthermore, the exponential increase in fake news of modern times is a concern for government and organizations handling the public emergency crisis. The politicization of national issues is another limitation, as they help to spread fake news and unfounded rumors to score political gain during a public emergency crisis. The research concludes that social media is a valuable tool to mitigate or avert public emergency if there are enhanced infrastructures backed with strong laws that would punish fake news/rumors perpetrators and future potentials of social media.
Highlights
Social media is an evolving field that is growing exponentially globally
Public Participation: The public can be informed of relevant updates directly from those involved in a public emergency crisis through social media platforms
It shows that the majority of social media users in Sierra Leone are using WhatsApp that has fewer security features compared to Facebook in stemming out fake news or misinformation
Summary
Social media is an evolving field that is growing exponentially globally. It allows smartphone users to instantaneously post an event on the Internet that can be seen by a wider population. The increasing complexity and interactions between humans and their environment render us more exposed than ever to unforeseen events; such as recently as, the Ebola (Kaner, Schaak , 2014), the mudslide (The World Bank, 2017) and the Coronavirus Pandemic (2019-2020) reminding us again that we are far from being prepared for public emergencies, especially the developing countries In these public emergencies, the damage to a nation or global community has been enormous in terms of death, injury, job loss, bankruptcy, and property loss. Social media is a powerful tool of modern times used to disseminate an event as it happens and keep the global community abreast of pertinent issues that may involve their survival Political parties, especially those in opposition, used the social media platforms to fabricate rumors and fake news, in Africa, to gain political scorecards against the ruling governments. It pinpoints lessons and best standards that would enhance public emergency management competencies and proactiveness through the use of social media platforms
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