ABSTRACT
Social media has become a ubiquitous part of modern communications, and its role in disaster response has been widely studied. However, the use of social media in oil spill response in remote areas presents as many unique challenges as it does opportunities.
Several cases have demonstrated the utility of social media in oil spill response efforts. In 2016, the Husky Oil Spill in the North Saskathewan River in Canada, the response team used social media to communicate with local communities and provide response updates; the team used Twitter to share photos and videos in real time and created local groups on Facebook where individuals could ask questions and receive updates. A separate case study in this paper will examine with more detail an organized deployment of social media in incident response.
Successful deployment of social media in incident response is contingent upon several factors that become even more variable in remote areas. Chief among those limitations is a lack of connectivity. While new satellite technology in Alaska is bringing more people online, vast swaths of vulnerable coastline and other areas remain unconnected. Moreover, the effectiveness of social media as a response and communication tool is directly tied to audience engagement. In areas with low connectivity, individuals may not be in the same social media space as responders, slowing attempts to communicate with those most closely affected by the incident. In this same vein, we find potential limitations where there may be language or other cultural barriers.