Monique Adams's List: Digital Literacy Assignment

• • Digital tools were able to capture photos of Sandy's damage.

• This week, in Hurricane Sandy’s wake, those of us with Internet access across the country took to social networks to talk about the storm. And talk we did: Facebook and Twitter mentions of “Hurricane Sandy” skyrocketed, and Instagram saw 10 photos uploaded per second during the height of the storm on Monday.

   
• The hedge fund analyst, whose real name is Shashank Tripathi, decided to use the viral news peg to spread misinformation about the storm, including posts that said the New York Stock Exchange floor was under three feet of water and that Con Edison was shutting all power off in Manhattan.
• Now Tripathi has a decent amount of followers – approximately 6,000 – and the media picked up on some of the false information he was spreading, adding confusion to the mass amount of chaos already consuming the East Coast news cycle.

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• • The New York tech meetup and Hurricane Hackers built quick networks, held hackathons, offered free IT advice and support to affected businesses, launched real-time maps and social feeds, and more.
   
  •   The Occupy movement transitioned into disaster relief mode and made great use of the web as an organizing tool.
   
  •   A group of high school students in New Jersey launched a crowdsourced map of gas stations so drivers could share notes during the two-week gas shortage in the area. (See below for a photo of the map)
   
  •   Crowdfunding has been critical in rebuilding efforts, as sites like GoFundMe have helped residents and communities raise millions of dollars to begin rebuilding efforts.
   
   

• • Media was able to track and monitor Hurricane Sandy for the entire time she was forming.

• Most news outlets carried the measured message from scientists that while some specific extreme events,  such as heat waves, can be attributed to climate change, this is far more difficult for hurricanes. With this in mind, most scientists we spoke to seemed broadly pleased with media outlets' coverage.

• Hurricane Sandy marked a shift in the use of social media in disasters. More than ever before, government agencies turned to mobile and online technologies. Before, during and after Sandy made landfall, government agencies throughout the Northeast used social media to communicate with the public and response partners, share information, maintain awareness of community actions and needs, and more.
• Throughout Hurricane Sandy, the public turned to social media for updates and assistance, and more than ever before, response agencies, organizations and community groups used social media to organize and direct resources where needed. Twitter and Facebook were used extensively by individuals, first responder agencies and utility companies to relay messages and information, share evacuation orders and provide updates on the storm. For example, the New York Office of Emergency Management provided hourly updates and evacuation orders via Twitter, and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie relayed updates about the storm, aid and evacuation orders via his personal Twitter account.
  

• Sandy lost the hurricane part of its name and the prestige that comes with the hurricane center's constant attention and reliable forecasts, and some people said that caused Northeast residents to underestimate its danger.

  Under the new policy, the hurricane center in Miami will continue to put out warnings and advisories if a storm threatens people and land, even if a hurricane or tropical storm loses its name and becomes something different.