The Official Emergency Responders Had Infrastructure: We Had iPhones

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The decade that started in 2010 saw a host of natural disasters in the world. From the Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan in 2011 to Hurricane Sandy on the East Coast of the United States in 2012 to the wildfires across Australia in 2019 to the COVID-19 Global Pandemic in 2020, we have heard countless stories of rescues, sharing helpful information, and connecting people with aid. But one major difference in these more recent disasters is how they have used computer-mediated communication (CMC) technologies to rescue and support victims. Specifically, mobile phones and social media are being used, in combinations, to make rescue needs visible (Stephens, Robertson, & Murthy, 2020) and connect people to help (e.g., Houston et al., 2014; Palen & Hughes, 2018; Smith, Stephens, Robertson, Li, & Murthy, 2018; Veil, Buehner, & Palenchar, 2011).