{"id":24159,"date":"2020-01-30T07:00:53","date_gmt":"2020-01-30T11:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/cyborgology\/?p=24159"},"modified":"2020-02-02T02:42:49","modified_gmt":"2020-02-02T06:42:49","slug":"disastertourism-a-generous-response","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/cyborgology\/2020\/01\/30\/disastertourism-a-generous-response\/","title":{"rendered":"Stunning Embers"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The best way I can describe the experience of summer 2019-2020 in Australia is with a single word: exhausting. We have been on fire for months. There are immediate threats in progress and new ones at the ready. Our air quality levels dip in and out of hazardous, more often in the former category than the latter. This has been challenging for everyone. For many, mere exhaustion may feel like a luxury.<\/p>\n

In the trenches of the ongoing fires are the Australian emergency service workers, especially the \u201cfireys,” who have been tireless in their efforts to save homes, people, and wildlife. While the primary and most visible part of their\u00a0 work is the relentless job of managing fires, there is also a secondary–though critical–task of public communication, keeping people informed and providing material for anxious-refreshers looking for information about \u201cfires near me.\u201d <\/a>\u00a0In the last few days, as fires have approached the Canberra suburbs where I live, an interesting variant of public safety communication has emerged: Instagramable photography.<\/p>\n

A tweet from the local emergency service account (@ACT_ESA<\/a>) announced Wednesday night that a major road would be closed<\/a> to anyone who isn\u2019t a resident of the area. The reason for the closure was to prevent a growing obstacle to public safety\u2014disaster tourism. Apparently, people have been \u201cvisiting\u201d the fires, generally taking dramatic photographs to share on social media. These disaster tourists put themselves in harm\u2019s way, clog the roads, and generally create more work for emergency responders. The road closure was a hard and fast way to keep people out. It was not, however, the ESA\u2019s only action. In addition to closing roads and posting notices, the team also created and shared imagery of the fires-in-progress with direct allusion to the perceived goals of would-be disaster tourists (i.e., social sharing).<\/p>\n

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CBR, we know the fire makes for some insta-worthy content. Stopping on the side of the road creates an unnecessary risk to public safety.<\/p>\n

Please do not clog our roads to take your own pictures.
\nUse these. #StopDisasterTourism<\/a><\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcf8Gary Hooker, ACTRFS pic.twitter.com\/vU7lboVwnq<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 ACT ESA (@ACT_ESA) January 29, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n