Libraries at University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Abstract
For almost 19 years social media has been used in crisis management. During the time of natural disasters like flood, earthquake or cyclone, when all the other modes of communications are found incapable, these social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube etc. are found to be the most efficient and beneficial. The present study discusses the role of social media during the Kerala Flood 2018. Results show that During the flood; Whatsapp, Facebook and Instagram are found to be used by majority of the respondents. Most of the respondents spend more than 3 hours on Whatsapp followed by Instagram and Facebook during the flood. For the information regarding the location status of friends and family, majority of respondents used Facebook followed by Whatsapp and Instagram. During the flood, majority of the respondents used the hashtag #Keralafloods, followed by #Keralafloodrelief, #cmdrf and #Keralaflood.