Social Media's role in Alberta Floods

As the water levels rose in Calgary, social media became a beacon for people looking to understand what was happening, receive information and support those affected. As in other recent disasters, hashtags began to appear which unified otherwise unique tweets and spoke to the social camaraderie shared around the world. 

According to a report compiled by MarketWired, the three top used Twitter hashtags used during the Alberta Floods from June 20-30, 2013 were: 

• #YYCFlood (342,322)
• #ABFlood (209,266)
• #YYCHelps (311,119)

The City of Calgary, 660 News and Calgary Police Service were the most active posters on Twitter with unique tweets using an above hashtag and overall, Flood related hashtags were featured in tweets 32 times every minute. 

Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi worked tirelessly during the disaster to keep Calgarians safe and informed. As a result, his Twitter account grew more than 28,000 followers during the 10-day period with unique hashtags such as #Nap4Nenshi and #NenshiNoun popping up on thousands of Tweets.