Wherever I am, the world comes after me.
It offers me its busyness. It does not believe that I do not want it.
Now I understand why the old poets of China went so far
and high into the mountains, then crept into the pale mist.
"The Old Poets of China" by Mary Oliver

Making Disasters Visible: Tsismis, Social Media and Community Communication in Disaster Response | An Online Lecture

Details

The UP Asian Center is hosting an online lecture, "Making Disasters Visible: Tsismis, Social Media and Community Communication in Disaster Response," on 7 July 2026, from 2:00 to 4:00 PM, PHT (GMT+8), online via Zoom. The event is free and open to the public, but signing up for a (free) Zoom account is required.

     

ABOUT THE LECTURE

This research examines how disaster visibility is produced through everyday communication practices in the Philippines. It argues that visibility is a socially produced process shaped through interactions across both online and offline networks. Based on digital ethnography and fieldwork in Negros island, the study identifies three mechanisms:
      • Tsismis-based social comparison, through which disaster experiences are evaluated and morally interpreted
      • Audience-conscious communication, where individuals strategically frame disaster narratives for recognition and potential assistance
      • Hybrid online-offline circulation, where information is shared, interpreted, and validated across community networks
Together, these mechanisms show that disaster visibility is not produced by social media platforms alone, but through relational infrastructures embedded in everyday life. These infrastructures shape which experiences are recognised, whose needs are legitimised, and how credibility is constructed under conditions of chronic risk. The article argues for disaster governance approaches that engage with these social processes of recognition and visibility.

 ABOUT THE SPEAKER

JOANNA HIOE, Ph.D.
Independent Researcher on Disaster Management in Southeast Asia

Dr. Joanna Hioe completed her PhD in Southeast Asian Studies at the National University of Singapore (NUS) in 2026. Her research combines ethnography and media studies to examine how low-income fishing communities in Negros island (the Philippines) navigate slow violence and recurring small-scale disasters. Supported by the Lloyd's Register Foundation Institute for the Public Understanding of Risk at NUS, her doctoral work is being developed into a series of short documentaries that foreground community-led responses and highlight the role of local networks and resources in everyday risk management.

ABOUT THE REACTORS

IRENE GRACE ANDAL, Ph.D.
Research Fellow, International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS), Leiden University

Aireen Grace Andal is a human geographer and Research Fellow at the International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS), Leiden University, and the Airlangga Institute of Indian Ocean Crossroads (AIIOC), Universitas Airlangga, Indonesia. She is is also a researcher at the Southeast Asian Neighborhoods Network (SEANNET) and the Global South Urban Lab (GSU).

 
JOEFE B. SANTARITA, Ph.D.
Professor and College Secretary, Asian Center, UP Diliman

Dr. Joefe B. Santarita is a Professor at the Asian Center, University of the Philippines Diliman. He earned his Ph.D. in South Asian Studies from the National University of Singapore in 2012, following an MA in Asian Studies with a focus on Southeast Asia from the same institution in 2004. Dr. Santarita began his academic journey with a BA in History-Community Development from the University of the Philippines in the Visayas in 1997. His extensive educational background has equipped him with a profound understanding of Asian cultures, histories, and political economies. Dr. Santarita has made significant contributions to these fields through his research and publications specializing in Indian studies, migration studies, Philippine culture and society, maritime history, and Southeast Asian political economy.

 ABOUT THE ORGANIZERS

This lecture is organized by the UP Asian Center. For inquiries, please contact us atThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 891-8500 loc. 3586.