Victoria's bushfire emergency, Australia's greatest natural disaster. Photo: Jason SouthThe bushfire crisis in Victoria has shown another use for social networks such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. According to Emma Young reporting in the Sydney Morning Herald (11/2/09), users inundated Twitter, the microblogging site, with expressions of support.
In a more practical approach others set-up an account posting updates from the Country Fire Authority, dispersing the potential overload of people in search of information logging onto theofficial emergency services sites.
Even the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, used the site to post messages to his 7,000 "followers" about how to make donations of cash, blood and seek government help.
Young also reported MySpace contact over 2 million users registered with a local group to relay information on emergency contacts and how to make donations; and Facebook had a number of groups created to support the families of those filled in the fires.
With social networking becoming a part of everyday interaction - how could you use this medium in a public relations campaign? Where would you draw the line between what was relevant information and what was straight-out promotion?
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