Investigation of information sharing by Twitter users during the 2011 heavy snow disaster in San-in region of western Japan

Abstract

In recent large-scale disasters, citizens have started using social media, such as Twitter and Facebook, for sharing information for cooperation. In order to use social media efficiently, it is necessary to understand and clarify following issues: characteristics, accuracy and limitation of information obtained by social media; characteristics of users consisting social media community; and response characteristics of social media community for answering requests of various disaster information. In this study, we collected and analyzed tweet log during the 2011 heavy snow disaster in San-in region of western Japan. Based on the results of analysis, we discussed the possibility of use of social media for information sharing among citizens and supporting emergency response.