Can we make the internet suitable as an infrastructure in times of crisis?

Something said in the Webcast “Why the Internet is the Way It Is…” struck me as extremely significant. Is it possible for the internet to be a suitable alert system in times of crisis? Of course, I get the impression that we’d have to have a battery-operated device to access the web if the power was out. But the real question I have concerns finding the correct information on the web to help you get through an emergency and help you find out what is going on. I suspect that, unless there was strict protocol, it would be very difficult to know where to find what you need in a time of crisis. I recently had an experience that I can relate to this topic.

I don’t have cable and no television channels come in. I also don’t get any newspapers, and I check my phone messages once a week or so. I check my email more often, but not on the weekends. I work very hard to maintain the lack of these things in my life. (Dr. Tomer: I’ve heard of this Lady Gaga of which you speak, but that’s about it.) However, one day, I needed to find information about a current, potentially tragic event, and I didn’t know how.

I was driving through town and I noticed that the American flags at local banks and car dealerships and whatnot were all flying at half-mast. I was listening to NPR, but they weren’t talking about any major crisis and apparently I only think there is one radio station, because it didn’t cross my mind to hit the seek button. Instead, I went home quickly to get on the internet to see if I could find out any information. I was honestly worried that someone had been assassinated or I had somehow missed a memo about a past president’s death.

When I got home, I checked the New York Times website first. Nothing. Then I went to Google to see if I could find something out. There wasn’t anything indicating it in the news section. I decided to Google information, but what would I search for? I sat there for a minute trying to figure out what I should type in to get the results I needed. For some unknown reason, I settled on “who died today?” It was at that moment that I realized how ridiculous it was to be searching for information on the web that wasn’t obviously present. Usually Google “guesses” what I want before I’m even done (or at least comes up with some really interesting suggestions), but this time I didn’t know what to search for. It's funny now, but I couldn’t find anything and I honestly felt very frustrated and lost at the time. News becomes old news so fast that I was worried I’d missed something significant.

Several days later I found out that they were flying the flags at half-mast for the miners lost in the recent accident in south WV. I had asked a coworker.

On the most basic level, I am sure that if some kind of serious emergency took place, the internet news providers would do their best to inform as many people as possible. But what happens of someone misses the latest yahoo update that said not to drink the water, or to stay put because help is on the way? Could the internet be trusted with such important information? I think so, but there would have to be clear rules and instructions on both the sides of the news providers and the general public.