‘Breaking Ground’ in the use of social media: A case study of a university earthquake response to inform educational design with Facebook

On September 4 2010, a massive 7.1 magnitude earthquake struck the Canterbury region in the South Island of New Zealand. The response from the University of Canterbury was immediate and carefully co-ordinated, with the university's web-based environment and a responsive site developed on the social media platform ‘Facebook’ becoming prominent sources of support for many months. This case study illustrates how the university effectively utilised these environments and their impact within the wider university community. Case study methodology draws upon literature from the fields of social media, social network communities and crisis informatics. The findings propose that social media can effectively support information sharing, communication and collaboration in higher education contexts, in particular in times of crisis, but suggest there needs to be a defined purpose to integrate these within an institution's communications strategy given the resource implications and range of social media already used by students.

► Multi-level communication channels needed by a university after a major earthquake.
► The university online environment and social media used to address this need.
► Social media supported information sharing, communication and collaboration.
► Integration within an institution's communications strategy recommended if purposeful.