Online relief efforts such as #BostonHelps are inspiring, but haphazard and confusing. How San Francisco is building a social network — for disasters.
Via: sf72.org
When a disaster strikes, the first thing people want to know is what happened. The second? How can I help?
Efforts to offer help online are often scattered and confusing. Within minutes after news of the explosions in Boston spread, people began tweeting offers of help with the hashtag #BostonHelp. Not long after, Google created a people finder doc. The Boston Globe created another Google doc where people could offer up housing to those in need. Both circulated the internet, largely through Twitter. Lots of people signed up to help, but few were connected with people in need.
"I got at least 20 emails, DMs, [and] calls, but in the end no one needed our extra beds," says Benjamin Maron, who repeatedly tweeted about his home and other services available. However well-intentioned, it was an admittedly odd fit — a Sandy-style relief effort for a human act of violence.
What's become clear over the last year is that there's is a need for disaster and crisis coordination online, beyond hashtags. And San Francisco, the earthquake capital of the country, might have the solution.
In collaboration with the design firm IDEO, the city is creating a social networking website and app to connect people who want to help with those who need it. Through the SF72 platform, you will be able to preregister your home, supplies you have — say, an emergency generator — and relevant skills, such as emergency first aid. Instead of scanning hashtags, people will be able to simply log in to a preexisting community, knowing there will be specific offers for help organized by neighborhood.
"We looked at everything from CB radio protocols to earthquake apps, as well as emerging and established social platforms," says Kate Lydon, who led the project for IDEO. "The central insight that SF72 is built upon is this: in the event of an emergency, human relationships and a community network are more important than a backpack filled with supplies— that people might not know how to use and are often out of date."
Most government emergency response departments, including FEMA, use social media to communicate with the public. But they aren't enabling conversations between other people looking to coordinate. As we saw during hurricane Katrina (and to a lesser extent Sandy), FEMA's immediately ability to help can pale in comparison to what regular people offer each other on the ground, almost immediately. Coordinating that help is essential.
"We want to make it simple and take fear out of it," says Francis Zamora, spokesperson for the San Francisco Department of Emergency Management (SFDEM). "It appeals to people's values. We live here for a reason and this is our home and we want to be a part of it and make simple connections with our neighbors."
The city did a soft launch in January, collecting user feedback, but the service is still in beta. "We are dreaming big right now," says Zamora. "As we go into the second phase of the build out, we want to see what will work for people. SF72 can be anything." The next build-out phase occurs in mid-May.
