BOULDER, Colo. -- Emergency managers say social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and Flickr are changing the way disaster situations are handled.

Dr. Jeannette Sutton of CU Boulder’s Natural Hazards Center has been conducting joint research with the school’s Department of Computer Science. The center's research found that, increasingly, when disaster strikes, the Web-savvy are seeking out and sending out information via social networking sites.

Sutton said one of the first documented signs of the phenomenon came in the hours after the shootings on the Virginia Tech campus in April 2007.

Some crucial news about the shootings came not through law enforcement or the news media, but through Facebook.

“People who were distributed across these networks were able to identify all of the names of the deceased before the official announcement came out about who was deceased,” said Sutton.

Sutton said emergency management specialists risk irrelevance if they don’t embrace social networking.

Boulder County has already developed a Twitter account that it used extensively after the Olde Stage Coach fire broke out in January.

“By the end of that fire we had 100 new followers that were following us on Twitter and other organizations were re-tweeting us, including FEMA,” said Boulder County Commission spokeswoman Patricia Demchak.

Sutton said FEMA, which has started its own YouTube channel, is an exception. Many federal agencies remain skeptical about social networking, fearing that the sites foster more rumor than reality.

But Sutton’s research found that people are often extremely cautious about fact-checking their information before disseminating it.

Sophia B. Liu, a graduate student in computer science, is a perfect example. Liu tracks social networking during disaster situations as part of the Alliance for Technology, Learning and Society at CU Boulder.

A Boulder resident, she was evacuated after the Olde Stage Coach fire broke out and immediately started Twittering to keep track of the information she was hearing.

“That local knowledge of citizens who live in the area can be key in terms of providing quick information," said Liu.

Liu said many of the firefighters who were staged throughout her neighborhood as evacuations were under way shortly after the fire broke out were brought in from elsewhere and could not tell her the best route out of her neighborhood.

Liu wound up Twittering that and other crucial information. Boulder police spokeswoman Sarah Huntley said that in some cases, Liu’s information came out quicker than law enforcement’s.

Sutton said there is always a danger that rumor or gossip could have a negative impact, but she said the benefits of social networking in disaster situations far outweigh the risks.

“It's a way to tune in and find out, 'How is my warning being perceived?' and 'How is the info actually coming across to the public?'" Sutton said.

Some federal agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are already tuning in to social networking. The city of Castle Rock has a Twitter account and Commerce City is in the process of developing one.

Boulder County is developing a social networking policy. If it is approved, the county will open Facebook and MySpace accounts as well.

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