Social media and crowdsourcing in disaster risk management: Trends, gaps, and insights from the current state of research

Abstract

Social media and crowdsourcing (SMCS) are increasingly used as tools to govern disasters. Nevertheless, we have a limited understanding of how these technologies support disaster risk management (DRM). Based on a comprehensive literature review of 237 papers, we present a state-of-the-art of the research field linking SMCS with DRM. The paper provides insights into major trends in research published from 2008 to 2023. It maps the use of SMCS across disaster phases, disaster types, research design, and geographies before and after the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Our results show that existing research predominantly focuses on preparedness and response activities. Moreover, research on SMCS tends to favor (single) case studies and secondary data, and despite a minor shift following the COVID-19 pandemic, research is dominated by North America, South Asia, Australia, and Europe. There is very little research coming from severely disaster-prone regions in the Global South on SMCS in disasters with a few exceptions. Research should focus on the power shifts that these technologies produce, the contexts in which they are supposed to be applied, and the sociocultural conditions that co-produce, potentially vulnerable, outcomes of SMCS in disaster risk management.