Ten years ago today, a drilling accident far below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico caused an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig — and a massive oil “spill” from seafloor. Eleven crew members lost their lives. The environmental impacts were devastating and are ongoing.

For people living in the area, there was an extended period of anxiety and uncertainty. They worried about environmental and health impacts. They didn’t know how long the event would last or how much damage it would cause — to their economy, to their physical & mental well-being.

For nearly three months (87 days), the oil continued to flow from seafloor into the Gulf of Mexico, and for a long time, it was unclear when that part of the disaster would end. There were a number of failed attempts to stop it along the way.

For responders, there was debate about the best strategies to use to clean the spill. One proposed method was the use of chemical dispersants. The situation was complex and the science contested. Scientists from different fields often expressed differing views on tradeoffs.

Within the uncertainty, rumors and misinformation spread. There were claims that it was “raining dispersants.” There was disinformation as well. A Russian Ministry report claimed the sea floor was damaged beyond repair and warned of “total destruction”.

Grappling with a complex and contested information space, a collective sensemaking process took place online, as people assembled evidence to try to better understand the unfolding disaster and the potential trade-offs of different response strategies.

The #COVID19 crisis reminds me, in some ways, of the BP/Gulf Oil Spill in 2010. The long period of uncertainty and anxiety. The dynamic and contested science. The looming questions about when the crisis will end and what actions we can take to mitigate its impacts.

Here are a few sources from our research into the BP/Gulf Oil Spill case:

A long paper examining social media discourse about the BP/Gulf Oil Spill:
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10807039.2014.947866#preview

A short paper titled “It’s raining dispersants” about collective sensemaking:
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2685553.2698995