Tweak the Tweet is an idea for utilizing the Twitter platform as a two-way communication channel for information during emergencies, crises, and disasters. Researchers in the area of crisis informatics have recognized that social media sites are places that people turn to during major events to both inform others and to get information from others. Tweak the Tweet seeks to formalize some of these communications to make the information shared more easily processed and redistributed back to the public.

The idea takes advantage of the public nature of Twitter as well as the availability of tools to filter and collect tweets. It also seeks to allow users to inform the public of disaster-related information within (or in a very similar way to) their normal Twitter communication patterns.

Crisis Reporting Hashtag Syntax

A Tweak the Tweet campaign asks users to format their tweets with specific hashtags that allow computers to do a first round of processing on the information. This processing includes extracting location information, creating incident reports from tweets, and sorting these reports into different types of categories. The processed tweets can then be displayed on public web-pages in a variety of formats that allows users to view aggregate information. Examples include spreadsheets that can be sorted over report type and interactive maps that allow users to see where different types of information has been reported.

TWEET-BEFORE: roads from PAP to les Cayes are open migration from PAP to rural areas has begun

TWEET-AFTER: #haiti #open roads from #loc PAP to les Cayes are open #info migration from PAP to rural areas has begun

This tells the computer:

what = road
what about it = open
where = at PaP to les Cayes
what else: “open migration from PAP to rural areas has begun”

TWEET-BEFORE: Altagrace Pierre needs help at Delmas 14 House no. 14.

TWEET-AFTER: #haiti #name Altagrace Pierre #need help #loc Delmas 14 House no. 14.

This tells the computer:

what = need help
who = Altagrace Pierre
where = Delmas 14 House no. 14.

To implement a Tweak the Tweet instance during an event, there are two crucial elements that must be successfully implemented: a social media campaign that instructs and motivates people to use the format, and the technical tools to collect, process, and redistribute the information created.

Tweak the Tweet by Kate Starbird & Project EPIC is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License