Communications of the ACM

Home/Magazine Archive/January 2014 (Vol. 57, No. 1)/Retweeting the Fukushima Nuclear Radiation Disaster/Abstract

Contributed articles

Retweeting the Fukushima Nuclear Radiation Disaster

By Jessica Li, Arun Vishwanath, H. Raghav Rao
Communications of the ACM, January 2014, Vol. 57 No. 1, Pages 78-85
10.1145/2500881
Comments

View as: Print Mobile App ACM Digital Library In the Digital Edition Share:

retweet, illustration — Credit: Anne Hornyak

Micro-blogging lets the public stay involved in risk communication following disasters. Here, we explore the patterns of risk communication on Twitter regarding the nuclear radiation threat in the aftermath of the 2011 Fukushima earthquake and tsunami, focusing on patterns of retweets of alarm and reassurance and providing insight into micro-blogging behavior and its consequences.

Key Insights

Communication is important in emergency response.^{5,10,11,15,16,18} In the aftermath of the 2011 Fukushima earthquake and tsunami, Twitter was an important social medium for distributing information to millions of people worldwide, including in Japan, with the Japanese government sharing emergency information, relief organizations sharing shelter information, and ordinary citizens posting news of their local situations.²⁵

No entries found

Log in to Read the Full Article

Sign In

Sign in using your ACM Web Account username and password to access premium content if you are an ACM member, Communications subscriber or Digital Library subscriber.

Need Access?

Please select one of the options below for access to premium content and features.

Create a Web Account

If you are already an ACM member, Communications subscriber, or Digital Library subscriber, please set up a web account to access premium content on this site.

Join the ACM

Become a member to take full advantage of ACM's outstanding computing information resources, networking opportunities, and other benefits.

Subscribe to Communications of the ACM Magazine

Get full access to 50+ years of CACM content and receive the print version of the magazine monthly.

Purchase the Article

Non-members can purchase this article or a copy of the magazine in which it appears.