Social Media As News: Following the Nashville Flood

Here in Nashville we have been glued to the coverage of the devastating flood that struck our community this past weekend. But keeping abreast of breaking news no longer means tuning into your local news channel. Sure, that's part of it, and I praise our Nashville meteorologists and news sources for excellent reporting keeping us up to date. But some of the most relevant flood information I found during this disaster came from social media outlets, both traditional and new media sources.

Twitter
Back in January, Nashville had its first major snowstorm in years, which became known on Twitter as the hashtag #thesituation2010. As the rain poured down on Saturday, someone jokingly tweeted this should be known as #OtherSituation2010. And the name stuck. On Monday, some of the Nashville twitterati pointed out that using such a vague descriptor probably contributed to a lack of national coverage. (Though personally, I did have a laugh over #thesaturation2010.)

Using an application such as TweetDeck, it's easy to create a new column using a hashtag and follow along on your desktop computer or your smartphone. I've used these two columns to follow up-to-the-minute information on everything from tornado warnings and flood reports to details on how to help flood relief efforts and water conservation tips.

Think of Twitter as a news distribution source – a way to get people from one place to another. Many people used Twitter to share links to photos and videos of the devastation. One local business even used Twitter to show the damage it received.

Due to SEVERE flooding, Bates Nursery will be CLOSED until May 6, 2010...cleanup underway... http://twitpic.com/1khf6e

No matter how small, businesses can easily use Twitter to distribute their news, whether needing to tell customers that you're closed in a situation beyond your control – or, on the brighter side of things, using it to advertise discounts, sales and giveaways. In fact, it's often Twitter or Facebook that businesses use during situations such as this – it's faster, simpler and sometimes even has more reach than posting the same content on their website.

Facebook
Just as tweets about the Nashville flood were trickling in, my Facebook news feed was predominantly photos of my Tennessee friends' roads and yards that had become rivers and lakes. People used their phones to upload photos straight to Facebook even when they didn't have electricity:

When we all thought this was just a one-day thing, someone created this Facebook Page. This quickly became my go-to source for photos of the flood as it was happening.

Facebook also became a way for Tennesseans, both those out of town for the weekend and those who now live elsewhere, to stay updated on what was happening. And Facebook also helped those of us here reach out to our friends in other states and countries, who at first (given the other news of the weekend) had no idea of the severity of the flood.

YouTube
YouTube is the second-largest search engine, and video often speaks louder than words – and spreads virally to other social networks. A video of a classroom disintegrating on Interstate 24 first appeared on a local news station. I searched for it on YouTube to show some out-of-town family members – and I wasn't the only one. Soon, it showed up on my Facebook news feed multiple times, and I-24 became a trending topic on Twitter.

On Monday, the social media news site Mashable posted a video in a post titled "Tennessee Flooding Inspires Stunning YouTube Video." This – "Flooding Inspires" – soon became a trending topic because Mashable has such a wide reach, one post on their site spreads instantaneously.

As they say:

You don’t see YouTube videos like this very often, and as one commenter put it: “This video so captured the heart of this story… if it doesn’t move someone, they should check their pulse.” While most on-the-ground videos covering disasters and other world events are hurried and low-quality, this one is beautiful and professional-looking.

Blogs
The Nashville blogging community combined all of these social media resources to spread the word quickly and efficiently. They compiled news sources, shelter information, ways to help flood victims, videos, photos and more. They used their large followings to help prevent misinformation. They even blogged about each other's blogs – showing not just each other but Nashville, Tennessee and beyond just how social media spreads news – and the sense of community.

All of these are great examples of social media as news at work, even during an unfathomable disaster. Did you turn to social media during this or another major news event? What sources did you find most helpful?