Tsunami Generates a Surge of Social Media

The Mokapu Point buoy displaying swell direction oscillation during the Hawaii tsunami

In today’s Star Bulletin, Erika Engle discusses the role of social media during Saturday’s tsunami, including a mention of Buoy Alarm, which was flooded with Twitter traffic yesterday after people discovered the Mokapu Point buoy twitter feed (@buoy51202).

While NOAA utilizes a completely different system to monitor tsunami activitiy (DART), the effects of the surge’s ebb and flow were noticeable at the Mokapu surface buoy, mainly in the oscillating swell direction between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. HST. I suppose many chose to follow the buoy on Twitter expecting to see a dramatic spike in wave height, but when you consider the tremendous volume of water in the Pacific, to have it shift direction 9 times in approximately 5 hours is actually quite remarkable, and requires an amazing amount of energy.

Yesterday’s event was also a great illustration of how social media enables communities to dynamically respond and adapt in real-time. A niche product with little attention was suddenly thrust into relevancy, and a loose-knit community was able to champion it without formal management, oversight, or permission. Self-organization is perhaps the greatest power of social media, giving it a speed and efficiency that traditional media lacks.

The flow of information via social media was faster than broadcast media, Lum said: “I’d read a Tweet about a buoy, the waves passing the buoy, and a couple minutes later I’d see it (on TV).” Some ocean buoys, connected to buoyalarm.com, are rigged to post ocean activity to Twitter.

Of course there are drawbacks and potential pitfalls to self-organization, such as the amplification of misinformation, but a diverse community with a shared interest will mitigate those errors in due time. What is apparent is that we’ve entered an age of an information surplus, and managing that surplus will be our next challenge.