In this post I will be examining the role social media plays with regards to natural disasters. I will be focusing on the bushfires in Australia since they are current and have a devastating impact on the land, people, and I think the world in its entirety. Social media acts as an outlet for many people but serves many different purposes. While it started as a way to interact socially it has become much more for so many people due to the large platform social media offers to individual users. With the recent intensity and rising awareness of the horrific bushfires in Australia, my social media accounts have seen an exponential uptick in the posts regarding Australia. I have friends and follow users who currently live in Australia or have traveled there through school study abroad programs. These people have been constantly posting photos on their Instagram stories informing people about the devastation in the area and urging them to care about the issue, even though it seems far away from us in America. 

Australia. Me and my families thoughts and prayers are with all those effected by these horrific fires & with the incredible humans in the fire department & in the public who are helping to save lives and homes. This is a climate crisis and everyone knows it!!!! pic.twitter.com/JDKsPMQXTU

— Sam Smith (@samsmith) January 7, 2020

Twitter is also flooded with posts about the bushfires in Australia. There is a strong emphasis on disturbing photos of animals who were burned or suffered injuries due to the fires. In this instance, I think social media has been incredibly successful at raising awareness about the environmental issues impacting Australia. At the same time however, I think that social media allows citizens to become satisfied and feel like they have made a change when they post or repost something on social media. This concerns me because these people then don’t act in larger ways to help. For example, people who previously may have organized marches or protests about climate change may be pacified by posting an Instagram photo of the devastation or tweeting in outrage about the issue. Regardless of these potential issues I think social media does an incredible job at spreading information quickly. With regards to the current bushfires in Australia I am constantly being reminded of their existence, which I think is a very positive result of social media.