Facebook praises Andhra Pradesh’s disaster page

Hyderabad: Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu’s government has come in for praise from the Internet giant Facebook for using social media effectively to manage, respond, alert, receive and solve grievances of the people during and after Cyclone Hudhud.

Facebook appreciated the Naidu government’s initiative of creating the “AP Disaster Management Facebook Page” and said it was one of the best examples for managing disaster responses through Face-book in emergency situations.

Facebook carried out a study, “Prepare and Respond” to analyse how individuals, communities and governments globally use the social networking platform to respond to emergencies and act accor-dingly.
The AP Disaster Mana-gement Page on Facebook was used as a platform to alert people before the cyclone. Later, it took their grievances and concerns and informed them about the availability of relief material during Hudhud.

The page was also used to post pictures of on-ground efforts of the Chief Minister, his Cabinet team and the administration. Through the FB page, local Facebook communities were created through which relief efforts were monitored by volunteer groups.

The report lauded AP for engaging the public as part of its team and connecting with the community to help people stay safe and informed.