Communites around the world are faced with disaster. How we manage the situation is evolving with the growing use of social media. New social media tools are being developed and those that already exist are becoming more advanced. Companies such as Google, Twitter and Facebook have all recognised the utility of their product during natural disasters, such as Twitter Alerts and Facebook’s "I’m Safe" tool. Dr. Mel Irons and Dr. Douglas Paton have sought out to explore how social media tools like these and others are being used in emergency management and provide useful, research-based guides for readers to employ social media in disaster situations within their own communities.