Los Angeles, California has once again become victim to the destructive blaze of wildfire. Igniting on January 7th, the LA fires have burned thousands of acres of land, destroyed homes, disintegrated irreplaceable memories, and tragically claimed lives. The Palisades Fire has been the most notable in discourse as one of the deadliest in California’s history. Yet, areas such as Eaton, Hurst, Kenneth, Woodley, Lidia, Sunset and Sepulveda (to name a few) have also fallen victim to the devastation. The fires have been attributed, at least partly, to the effects of climate change, whereby abnormal and/or extreme weather patterns have become increasingly commonplace. The Santa Ana winds have been a significant contributor to the spread of the fire, making it harder to contain and control. What has been interestingly of note, as a distant observer to the destruction, is how the events of these fires have unfolded in the public eye beyond the traditional media, but through the lens of social media.
Disasters or tragic events, whether natural or perhaps those committed through war, have been documented by both professional and non-professional individuals for over a century. The latter often provide an intriguing perspective, providing a rawer reaction and response to capturing unexpected disaster. However, the capturing, documenting, and reporting of the LA fires has conveyed an interesting new lens in which natural disasters and events are engaged with and observed. Social media has not only become a central vehicle in which information is spread on a global scale, it has become a point of contact where individuals are welcomed into the personal lives of those experiencing disaster directly.
Through platforms such as Twitter, Instagram and TikTok, those experiencing the disaster have provided the world with a more immediate, real-time perspective – more specifically in a personal manner – posting live footage, evacuation updates, personal stories, etc. Where some people may only see a handful of victims interviewed on the traditional television news, social media users are likely to see double that amount (or more) in a matter of hours via social media. Whilst traditional media makes an effort to interview individuals and share their experiences, social media has allowed for more personal accounts and details to be shared to viewers/readers, making the disaster feel more tangible to those who are not experiencing it themselves – this is achieved on a mass scale too. Through this, social media has to an extent aided the humanisation of disaster as victims share personal family stories, sharing videos of charred family photographs, the remains of family homes, emotionally standing in front of lasting embers, providing updates about their own wellbeing, as well as the wellbeing of friends and pets too – bringing a more human connection to disaster in the digital age. Through this personalisation, people were able to rally up support for donations to help victims in need. Various TikTok videos were posted where individuals such as influencers who were able to help, created care packages to give to evacuees. These videos could thus in turn generate more attention and funding for aid.
Social media can be an important means of communication in times of crises as much as it can be a catalyst for dangerous misinformation. Twitter became a main source for evacuation updates which individuals may have been able access more readily than through television broadcasting. Yet, the continuous double-edged sword of social media sees false information spread just as quickly as useful information. Particularly in a time of panic, distress, and millions of observers awaiting updates, false reports also spread like wildfire. Rumours spread that the infamous Hollywood sign was burning and more than 200,000 people viewed a TikTok video (which appears to be AI-generated or using an editing software) that falsely depicted a bird caused the fires. Although restrictions are attempted to be made, disinformation is often spread more quickly than it can be fact-checked on social media, creating many risks for understanding and perceiving such events. As many reports have expectedly become highly politicised, dramatised misinformation spreads as individuals feed into confirmation bias in their media consumption: where Republican users favoured right-leaning posts that claimed California turned away fire trucks because of their emission levels. Hence, the continuation of local news and traditional forms of media need to continue as a balancing, fact-checking counterpart to social media.
In this digital era, where disasters, crises and tragedies are continuously reported, it can become easy for observers to become desensitised and apathetic towards the news. Social media can contribute to this, as it becomes second nature to scroll past just another story. However, there is hope also that social media could help the shift for individuals to feel more than passive as the amplification of people’s personal stories provides intimate glimpses into people’s lives; fostering empathy, sympathy, mobilising support and humanising the victims of disaster. The politicisation of the disaster through social media has helped to reignite and amplify discussions regarding climate change, disaster preparedness, and governmental responsibility. Social media’s role in the Los Angeles wildfire has reinforced just how online platforms can also serve as powerful instruments of advocacy and change.
Focusing the lens of natural disaster on these wildfires calls into question the arguably selective nature of social media, encouraging us to consider what other events may be more hidden from view and what impact this has on our perceptions of global events. Does social media favour disasters of the ‘West’? How much does the ‘algorithm’affect what ‘disaster’ media we consume? Are we being shown the full picture of global suffering, or just what the algorithm deems worthy?
A balance between emotional engagement, factual accuracy, and responsible consumption will be essential in navigating this complex digital landscape the LA fires has highlighted.