This article explores the ways in which remote workers respond to calls to action as temporary digital warriors, citizen reporters and community first responders during national disasters, floods, emergencies and neighborhood crisis. Community activism can be used to beat feelings of isolation and disconnectedness. Tele-commuters are uniquely positioned to become citizen activists. Staff working from home are often the first to share firsthand information, to provide details of people in need and to coordinate needed resources. You can skip to the bottom if you would prefer to scroll past the data and review of the research.
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- How to stay active when tele-commuting
- How to get through working in isolation
- 911 services to consider for remote staff
- How to maintain productivity when working at home during internet outages
Digital action can obliterate feelings of remote work isolation
Remote workers working from home often feel isolated and disconnected. Why? Because when we’re working from home, we devote about 13 hours of our day to our screens. We are in front of our computers (while working, 6:43), laptops, television (when seeking entertainment, 2:54), or mobile devices (when scrolling, 3:21). When added together, the data demonstrate that we are allocating more than half of every 24 hour cycle of our lives to sitting in front of blue screens (All About Vision). Sure, this is an exorbitant amount of time. But traditional workers reporting to an in-office environment reaches high levels also. Just one hour less!
No wonder we experience feelings and emotions of disengagement, disconnection, and loneliness. Physically we are isolated from our former office mates and colleagues. We have consciously choosen to allocate a large part of our lives to digital and virtual communication leaving less time for physical, in-person interactions.
What can we do about this? How might we replace some of our discretionary, free time spent in front of screens with actual, real life, in person interaction with others. While this might be an unreasonable goal, considering the features of remote work. It isn’t an objective that is unattainable.
Community Apps and social media help remote workers WFH reconnect
An effective way to re-connect to society is through one’s own community. We should make a conscious effort to re-establish family, neighbor and community connections. And, we need not wait until the next hurricane, a natural disaster, a mass shooting event or war event with many casualties.
There are many ways we can get involved as we go about our daily lives. Some remote staff working virtually have already embraced platforms where communities work together to share the latest crime, missing people, weather, fire hazards, and pothole sightings using the popular Citizens and Neighborhood apps. Up-to-the-second and localized updates are streamed in real time and leave legacy media in the dust!
Hard to believe it. But, not everyone is connected to their computer or mobile devices like those of us who work from home. They appreciate our constant digital input of reports, posts and comments for which they may only glance once per day or every other day. When scrolling our messages, our friends, family and colleagues may truly feel they haven’t been left out. As we post though, there are a few things for which he need to be mindful.
Social media and neighborhood apps can amplify negativity and disrupt collaboration
The purpose of this article is to highlight the positive benefits of making connections, whether in virtual reality or physical reality. Reliant upon too much of your interactions wrapped up in online only relationships can be detrimental. If used in excess, research appearing in Psychology of Popular Media, study respondents “perceived local crime rates as higher than those who do not use the apps, independent of actual crime rates.”
The key takeaway? Users of neighborhood social media apps, after reading posts, their negative perceptions of crime in their city or town overrides their real-world experience of actual crime events.
Other research by psychologists and social scientists show that even though social media users post delightful, joyous, happy and helpful messages of positivity on Twitter and Facebook for instance, “it is the negative emotional language that is most likely to be shared.”
This point is not to be overlooked by companies employing digital marketers with aggressive advertising campaigns. Their main goals? To drive user engagement leading to increased sales. So, the inverse happens. We use social media as a tool to make meaningful connections, expand our network, expose ourselves to differing views leading to higher levels of tolerance. But what happens instead?
Algorithms can disrupt collective cooperation. Researchers found that digital media users can become unhappy, angry and frustrated. The exact opposite of what they had hoped to feel when they clicked the button to engage others.
William Brady, an author of the Trends in Cognitive Science study conclude, “extreme political content or controversial topics are more likely to be amplified, and if users are not exposed to outside opinions, they might find themselves with a false understanding of the majority opinion of different groups.”
In thinking through the literature review I’ve conducted, how might we as workers with remote jobs transform our feelings of isolation to those of connectedness? Can we fight through the negativity? Is there a real-world solution available to us where we can exponentially take advantage of our virtual connections and serve as a conduit of love, kindness and support to mankind in the physical realm?
Sure!
Social media effective in responding to and recovering from disasters
We have seen in the last few days just how impactful digital warriors, citizen reporters and digital activists can be. Hurricane Helene and flooding in the Mid-Atlantic region most recently have demonstrated to the world the vulnerable pockets in our own town where digital workers safely ensconced in their mid, upper middle class to luxurious homes can help others less fortunate. Not to mention the fires in Maui, Hawaii. Often digital activists can be the first to respond to a disaster well before the emergency personnel, National Guard or FEMA hits the ground. For this we can be proud.
As we sit and work in the comfort of our homes, our thoughts often wander. Is there a way for us to help? Beyond clicking GoFundMe to more active on-the-ground, real world engagement, participation and volunteerism?
Yes. In fact, citizen warriors and digital activists have been on the ground working, well before Hurricane Helene. In the International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, it was found that social media can be effectively utilized to respond to disasters. An extensive literature review by researchers determined that social media to positively impact the following stages of disaster response and recovery:
- Publishing gateways by which financial support from private funders can be given
- Strengthening social unity and bonding
- Re-building and reconstruction of infrastructure
- Mitigating socio-economic and physical harm to inhabitants
- Disseminating information, news and education
- Sharing and providing resources for mental health, well-being and emotional support
- Exploring and supporting methods to buttress ongoing economic activities and business continuity efforts
Examples of digital warriors, citizen reporters becoming first responders during disasters
Particularly during Covid-19, researchers say, “in times of crises and disasters, social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, WeChat, and Weibo are often used by communities to stay connected, share experiences, and access vital information and resources as needed to support disaster response and recovery.” (Jamili, 2019).
Hurricane Helene is proving to be no different. Readers can be overwhelmed with joy, love and compassion when they read about the ways in which social media posters are chipping in and broadcasting positive updates about citizen lead and citizen driven on-the-ground networks:
- CDL truckers driving in supplies and water
- Helicopter pilots flying in water, food and toiletries
- Heavy equipment operators clearing highways
- Relators using professional networks to coordinate sending supplies
- Bystanders handing out life vests and rescuing helpless victims
- Users responding to missing people alerts and helping to locate them
In each of these instances (and there are so many more), everyday common people demonstrate the best of humanity. There is still hope in the world.
If you are working from home and lack a sense of community connection, take a moment to explore ways in which you can make a difference. Any small act of kindness goes a very long way. Victims will recall your small act as holding monumental significance in their drive to survive.
