"There's something not quite right about not quite right": the role of humor in individual and community resilience in crises

During emergencies and disasters, the safety of individuals and communities paramount. In nations such as Australia, formal communication channels have traditionally been the key of official information source concerning the crisis. Yet information derived via these channels is not only unidirectional, it can also lag behind the fast-paced changes in the crisis situation. By contrast, informal backchannel communications assist those on the ground in gathering and disseminating crucial up-to-the-minute localised information. Social media is one technological conduit that has been utilised for the multidirectional sharing of backchannel communications. Further, social media is the site at which formal and backchannel communications are now becoming blurred. An examination of the use of social media use during crises can give insight into personal and community resilience in times of disaster. This paper examines a particular case study posted on Facebook during an earthquake in south eastern Australia. It exemplifies the use of humour as a positive psychological trait in coping with stress during a crisis situation. This paper adds to the field of social media for public safety, and to resilience in dealing with trauma and crises.