| Throwaway account here. I actually had an interesting experience relating to this. A small handful of remote disaster coordination groups have self-organized over Zello (a PTT walkie talkie app for phones that uses data.) Their primary purpose seems to be to organize broadcasts of relevant information to groups of people who would "listen in" during dangerous conditions. The groups volunteers consist primarily of people that have internet connections and can broadcast from a safe location during the storm. These are similar to this idea [0]. I participated in one of these groups during a major hurricane in the US a year ago. My experience was mixed. It was interesting and fun to monitor social media, news sites, and NWS for alerts, hazards, and announcements. On the other hand, I was struck with how disorganized the groups were. It was like there was a "vigilante" group of disaster responders who were giving guidance and advice that was of questionable quality. I encountered more than one member of the group that actively used the channels to spread fear and uncertainty, (like claiming that the hurricane would cause a risk of "meltdown" at a nearby nuclear power plant.) After I tried to bring up the fact that this was potentially harmful, I was verbally abused by the group leader and banned from the channel. While these "bad eggs" are not the only part of these groups, other more well-meaning members might still not be well trained to handle very real crises. I'm not sure the best way to handle this sort of problem, but I felt like sharing my story might provide value to anyone else who might consider getting involved with this sort of thing. [0]: https://fortune.com/2016/08/20/cajun-navy-tech-louisiana-flo... |