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Soc|a| Med|a |n D|sasters and


Lmergenc|es
Cnllne Survey of 1046 respondenLs and
Lelephone survey of 1011 respondenLs
8eporL uaLe Summer 2011
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Methodo|ogy
@o slmllar polls ere flelded durlng Lhe perlod !une 2327 by CA8AvAn C8C
lnLernaLlonal uslng Lo meLhodologles
Cnllne Survey of 1046 respondenLs represenLaLlve of Lhe uS populaLlon aged 18 and
older on !une 2326 2011 8espondenLs for Lhe onllne survey ere selecLed from among
Lhose ho have volunLeered Lo parLlclpaLe ln onllne surveys and polls @he daLa have been
elghLed Lo reflecL Lhe demographlc composlLlon of Lhe 18+ populaLlon 8ecause Lhe
sample ls based on Lhose ho lnlLlally selfselecLed for parLlclpaLlon no esLlmaLes of
sampllng error can be calculaLed
@elephone survey of 1011 uS AdulLs 18 years and older on !une 2427 2011 conducLed
by CA8AvAn C8C lnLernaLlonal Margln of error ls +/ 31 percenLage polnLs aL Lhe 93
confldence level
A Lelephone meLhodology ls lndusLry sLandard and daLa from Lhls sample offer
lnslghL lnLo percepLlons behavlors and expecLaLlons of Lhe overall uS populaLlon
ln Lhe follolng poll summary Lelephone survey respondenLs are referred Lo as Lhe
general populaLlon uaLa from Lhe onllne sample glve a deLalled vle of
percepLlons behavlors and expecLaLlons of people ho spend Llme onllne
Where approprlaLe comparlsons values have been lncluded from Lhe prevlous
onllne survey of 1038 respondenLs aged 18 and older conducLed on !uly 2223
2010 by CA8AvAn C8C lnLernaLlonal
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Nearly half of the general population participates in
online communities or social networks.
Do you participate in any online communities or social networks, such as
Facebook or Twitter ?
Yes, 48%
No, 52%
Those in the generaI
popuIation who reside in
metropolitan areas are more
IikeIy to participate in onIine
communities or sociaI
networks (51 percent vs. 40
percent for those who reside
in non-metro areas).

Nearly 8 in 10 {79 percent_ of the online population participates in


at least one online community or social network.
Facebook is by far the most popular social media channel.
28%
2%
2%
%
6%
7%
9%
9%
12%
15%
2%
31%
58%
21%
1%
%
3%
5%
7%
5%
16%
12%
16%
13%
33%
68%
0% 10% 20% 30% 0% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
None
FourSquare
YeIp
Other
FIickr
A bIog
Forums
LinkedIn
Yahoo Groups
Twitter
MySpace
YouTube
Facebook
JuIy-10 Jun-11
hich of the following online communities or social networks do you participate in?
Compared to Iast year, more
Americans onIine participate in
at Ieast one onIine community
or sociaI network:
JuIy 2010 72%
June 2011 79%
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or both the general and online populations,
differences in who uses social networks are similar.
8espondenLs lLh chlldren ln Lhe household are more llkely Lo use
soclal medla
Cnllne 87 vs 76 for Lhose lLhouL chlldren ln Lhe household
@elephone 62 vs 41 for Lhose lLhouL chlldren ln Lhe household
CollegeeducaLed respondenLs are more llkely Lo use soclal medla
Cnllne 83 vs 73 for Lhose lLh a hlgh school dlploma or less
@elephone 36 vs 39 for Lhose lLh a hlgh school dlploma or less
?ounger respondenLs are more llkely Lo use soclal medla
Cnllne 93 of respondenLs 1834 vs 72 of Lhose 33 years and older
@elephone 79 of respondenLs 1834 vs 37 of Lhose 33 years and
older
hich of the following online communities or social networks do you participate in?
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ore than half of those who use social media participate every
day or nearly every day.
Base= 79%(online) and 8% (phone) who participate in any online communities or social networks
55%
19%
9%
57%
22%
8%
6%
8%
7%
9%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
Every day or
nearIy
Few times a week
Once a week
Few times a
month
Once a month or
Iess
OnIine GeneraI Pop.
ow often do you participate in these online communities or social networks?
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hile TV news is the preferred source of emergency information for both
groups, more than six in ten of the general public and nearly half of the
online population rely on online news.
11%
2%
2%
8%
6%
1%
10%
12%
1%
18%
8%
51%
2%
1%
10%
17%
5%
18%
23%
25%
27%
18%
63%
73%
90%
68%
0% 10% 20% 30% 0% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
None of these
FIickr
Other
Text aIerts from IocaI gov
Twitter
MobiIe apps
OnIine sites for disaster agencies
LocaI utiIity or gov website
NOAA weather radio
Facebook
OnIine news
LocaI radio station
TV news
nline General Pop.
hich of the following communication channels have you ever used to get
information about an emergency such as a power outage, severe weather, flash
flood, hurricane, earthquake, or tornado?
Since June 2010, more of the onIine
popuIation turns to onIine news as a
source of emergency information:
June 11 JuIy 10
OnIine news 48% 37%
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eneral population: Nearly half of respondents would sign
up for emails, text alerts or applications that provided
safety information.
efiniteIy wouId,
6%
ProbabIy wouId not,
27%
efiniteIy wouId
not, 23%
ProbabIy wouId,
21%
Might or might not,
20%
ow likely would you be to sign up for emails, text alerts or applications that
provided you with information on how to keep yourself safe during and after an
emergency? ould you say you.?
Balance=Don't Know
Among the generaI pubIic, women and
those residing in metropoIitan areas
are more IikeIy to sign up: 32 percent
vs. 23 percent for men and 30 percent
vs. 20 percent for those residing in
non-metro areas.
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nline population: Compared to last year, more respondents would
sign up for emails, text alerts, or applications for information on road
closures.
48%
48%
50%
46%
50%
53%
52%
50%
46%
49%
51%
52%
54%
55%
56%
57%
0% 10% 20% 30% 0% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Preparedness information
How to keep yourseIf safe during and after an
emergency
SheIter Iocations
Where to get gas
Location of medicaI services
Location of food/water
Evacuation routes
Road cIosures
Jul-10 Jun-11
ow likely would you be to sign up for emails, text alerts, or applications that
provided you with the following information in an emergency?
ote: Percentages indicate those who probably
or definitely would.
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Nearly one in five online and one in seven general public respondents
experienced an emergency or witnessed a newsworthy event and
posted information or photos about that event to a social media site.
Base= 79%(online) and 8% (phone) who participate in any online communities or social networks
18%
82%
15%
85%
0% 10% 20% 30% 0% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
YES
NO
OnIine GeneraI Pop.
ave you ever experienced an emergency or witnessed a newsworthy event and
posted information or photos about that event to a social media site?
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acebook was the most popular site by both the general and online populations for
posting emergency or newsworthy information. The online population was more likely
than the general public to post on Twitter, lickr, or Posterous/Tumblr blogs.
Base=Those who use social media channels have posted information or photos about an emergency or newsworthy event to a social media site.
8%
8%
10%
14%
25%
78%
18%
1%
14%
14%
91%
0%
0% 10% 20% 30% 0% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
ther
Posterous or Tumblr
Blog
Flickr
Blog
Twitter
Facebook
OnIine GeneraI Pop.
n which sites did you post this event? (Select as many as apply.)
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f unable to reach local E$, more than one in five of the
general public would try to use an online channel to convey
their need for help.
Cnllne usage (eg send emall posL on ebslLe) 22
Walk Lo nearesL pollce
flre or LMS sLaLlon 20
urlve 13
Cell hone/hone 8
@exL Message 3
ln person/Walk Lhere 3
Send someone/Pave someone
else conLacL Lhem 2
Smoke slgnals 1
C8 8adlo/Pam radlo 1
Soclal neLorklng Channels 1
magine that someone you know needs help urgently and you haven't been able to reach the
local emergency medical services, police or fire department by telephone. hat other ways
would you try to get in touch with local emergency services to ask for help? Anything else?
(pen-ended)
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bout one in four of the online population would try an
online channel for help, if unable to reach local E$.
Cnllne usage (eg send emall posL on ebslLe) 26
urlve 20
hone/Cell phone 16
Soclal neLorklng Channels 9
@exL Message 9
Send someone/Pave someone
else conLacL Lhem 6
ln person/Walk Lhere 6
Walk Lo nearesL pollce
flre or LMS sLaLlon 2
C8 8adlo/Pam radlo 2
magine that someone you know needs help urgently and you haven't been able to reach the
local emergency medical services, police or fire department by telephone. hat other ways
would you try to get in touch with local emergency services to ask for help? Anything else?
(pen-ended)
1
Nearly a fourth of the general public and a third of the
online population would definitely use social media to let
loved ones know they are safe.
11%
12%
24%
31%
28%
16%
9%
22%
22%
24%
0% 10% 20% 30% 0% 50% 60%
efiniteIy wouId not
ProbabIy wouId not
Might or might not
ProbabIy wouId
efiniteIy wouId
OnIine GeneraI pop.
n an area-wide emergency, how likely would you be to use social media
channels, such as Facebook or Twitter, to let your friends and family know you are
safe?
Women and househoIds with
chiIdren are more IikeIy to use
sociaI media channeIs to inform of
their safety.
OnIine:
59 percent for women vs. 51
percent for men
66 percent for househoIds with
chiIdren vs. 51 percent for those
w/o chiIdren
GeneraI:
55 percent for women vs. 37
percent for men
55 percent for househoIds with
chiIdren vs. 42 percent for those
w/o chiIdren
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t least a third of the general and online populations
would expect help to arrive in less than one hour.
39%
47%
6%
8%
20%
35%
33%
4%
8%
0%
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50%

Less than one


hour
One to three
hours
Four to six hours
More than six
hours
OnIine GeneraI Pop.
f you posted a request for help to a social media website, how long do you think it
should reasonably take for help to arrive? (pen-ended)
Note: For the online survey, question formatted to accept a range of 0-72 for hours and 0-59 for minutes.
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65%
63%
46%
70%
|ke|y that the emergency
response org doesnt even
know about request
Shou|d regu|ar|y mon|tor
webs|tes and soc|a| med|a
s|tes so they can respond
prompt|y
OnIine GeneraI Pop
hile the ma]ority in both populations feels that local emergency response organizations
should regularly monitor their websites for emergency requests, 46 percent of the
general public and nearly two-thirds of the online population doubt that they do.
magine that you posted an urgent request for help on a social media site of a local emergency
response organization such as your local emergency management, fire department or police
department. To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements? $plit $ample
ote: Percentages indicate those who strongly
agree or agree
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mong the general public, expectations are higher for national
emergency response organizations, as eight in ten expect regular
monitoring.
magine that you posted an urgent request for help on a social media site of a national emergency
response organization such as FEMA or the American Red Cross. To what extent do you agree or
disagree with the following statements? $plit $ample
60%
69%
49%
80%
|ke|y that the emergency
response org doesnt even
know about request
Shou|d regu|ar|y mon|tor
webs|tes and soc|a| med|a
s|tes so they can respond
prompt|y
OnIine GeneraI Pop
ote: Percentages indicate those who strongly
agree or agree

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