research-article

Designing for the deluge: understanding & supporting the distributed, collaborative work of crisis volunteers

Authors:

Annuska Perkins,

Ankitha Bharadwaj,

Kate StarbirdAuthors Info & Claims

CSCW '14: Proceedings of the 17th ACM conference on Computer supported cooperative work & social computing

Pages 888 - 899

https://doi.org/10.1145/2531602.2531712

Published: 15 February 2014 Publication History

Abstract

Social media are a potentially valuable source of situational awareness information during crisis events. Consistently, "digital volunteers" and others are coming together to filter and process this data into usable resources, often coordinating their work within distributed online groups. However, current tools and practices are frequently unable to keep up with the speed and volume of incoming data during large events. Through contextual interviews with emergency response professionals and digital volunteers, this research examines the ad hoc, collaborative practices that have emerged to help process this data and outlines strategies for supporting and leveraging these efforts in future designs. We argue for solutions that align with current group values, work practices, volunteer motivations, and organizational structures, but also allow these groups to increase the scale and efficiency of their operations.

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Index Terms

Designing for the deluge: understanding & supporting the distributed, collaborative work of crisis volunteers
1. Human-centered computing
  1. Collaborative and social computing

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cover image ACM Conferences

CSCW '14: Proceedings of the 17th ACM conference on Computer supported cooperative work & social computing

February 2014

1600 pages

ISBN:9781450325400

DOI:10.1145/2531602

General Chairs:
Susan Fussell
Cornell University
,
Wayne Lutters
University of Maryland, Baltimore County
,
Program Chairs:
Meredith Ringel Morris
Microsoft Research
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Madhu Reddy
Penn State University

Copyright © 2014 ACM.

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Published: 15 February 2014

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Paudel SNorris WSoden R(2024)Aftermath: Infrastructure, Resources, and Organizational Adaptation in the Wake of DisasterProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/36372948:CSCW1(1-24)Online publication date: 26-Apr-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3637294
Wani AJoshi INahvi NSingh P(2024)"Unrest and trauma stays with you!": Navigating mental health and professional service-seeking in KashmirProceedings of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3613904.3642507(1-17)Online publication date: 11-May-2024
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Jit SSpinney JChandra PChilton LSoden R(2024)Writing out the Storm: Designing and Evaluating Tools for Weather Risk MessagingProceedings of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3613904.3641926(1-16)Online publication date: 11-May-2024
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Alkusaibati WPilemalm S(2024)Digitalized Co-production of Emergency ResponseInformation Technology in Disaster Risk Reduction10.1007/978-3-031-64037-7_2(20-37)Online publication date: 30-Jun-2024
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