Company assistance Clients area Collaborators area ESP - CAT - ENG - FRA F&O FAMILIES BUSINESS COLLECTIVES CONTACT NEWS NewsNews 4 Apr TWITTER KNOWS BEFORE ANYONE ELSE HOW MUCH CATASTROPHES COST Twitter is used to cheer and harass, showing the face or behind an avatar, well hidden. It may be the most banal of distractions, but it also helps you to know, in the midst of the chaos after a disaster, in which affected areas it has caused the most damage. In addition, the social network measures it accurately and detects it before the reconnaissance teams arrive. Hidden behind the hubbub of Twitter conversations is an accurate and practical thermometer . The more serious the impact of a disaster in a specific area (a district of a city, for example), the more messages on the network each tweeter who lives in it publishes. The direct relationship, confirmed by a study published today in the journal Science Advances , can also be turned around: if Twitter shows certain signs of unrest among those affected by a disaster shortly after it occurs, it is possible to know where it has hit the most and, thus, better distribute the dispatch of ambulances and rescue teams. The tool also makes it possible to estimate the economic cost of the damage shortly after it occurs. "The social network is one of the first means to which those affected in the most developed countries resort to communicate that something serious is happening", comments Esteban Moro , a mathematician specialized in complex systems from the Carlos III University of Madrid, who has participated on the research. “The good thing about social networks is that [scientists] have a kind of sensors out there [their users] that are giving information at all times: messages, photos, videos. Knowing how to use these sensors to extract information in real time is valuable, but we can even anticipate some problems by predicting, thanks to that information, what is going to happen ”. However, the researchers are cautious, claiming that their method is just "further support" for others who also assess catastrophes. El fenómeno que protagoniza el estudio es el huracán Sandy, que azotó la Costa Este de Estados Unidos y Canadá en 2012, arrambló con las vidas de 219 personas y causó 50.000 millones de dólares en pérdidas. “Vimos que, después de que Sandy tomase tierra en las zonas de Nueva York, se publicaban más tuits por persona en las zonas que luego se comprobó que habían sido más castigadas”, ilustra Manuel Cebrián, otro autor del estudio, desde su laboratorio de Dinámicas Humanas en Melbourne (Australia). Resalta que esa correlación no surge a los dos o tres días, "cuando ya ha habido tiempo de que otras fuentes hagan el cálculo de daños", sino con un margen "de unas tres o cuatro horas". Twitter launches an alert about the areas where help is most needed, but you have to know how to see it. The researchers analyzed hundreds of millions of tweets in 50 metropolitan areas in the United States. They knew that there is a relationship between the route described by the hurricane and the increase in activity in that social network of the inhabitants of the area. However, they were surprised by how strongly an "unconventional" variable such as the type of feelings (from very negative to very positive) and other more quantitative ones (the number of tweets per person and total tweets) was related to its impact. The investigators compared these data with those of the insurers who later visited the areas and assessed the impact of the damages in dollars. LAST NEWS How to choose a children's car seat? Twitter knows before anyone else how much catastrophes cost Are you going to buy a house? Five things you should know about mortgages The danger of cheating insurance Young people can pay up to 182% more for car insurance In the event of an accident, be worth the same as a man The DGSFP notifies the entities that it is going to start the inspections with Mystery Shopping Premium income increased 2.06% last year Supplements to pensions gain market Four changes that will affect your pocket this 2016 Let's talk BARCELONA Address: Tamarit 155-157 08015 Barcelona Telephone: 93 280 59 59 E-mail: ferrerojeda@ferrerojeda.com MADRID Address: Claudio Coello, 35, Bajos A 28001 Madrid Telephone: 91 432 18 13 E-mail: madrid@ferrerojeda.com SEVILLE Address: Pº de las Delicias, 1, 3ª 41001 Seville Telephone: 95 450 15 12 E-mail: sevilla@ferrerojeda.com COMPLETE LIST OF OFFICES © Ferrer & Ojeda Legal warning Privacy Policy