In the 21st century, emergency management has a new challenge, namely the application
of social media, communication and public information challenges. Meanwhile, public
information is an important aspect of 21st century emergency management. This research
will explain the use of social media by Balai Penyelidikan dan Pengembangan Teknologi
Kebencanaan Geologi (BPPTKG) Yogyakarta for disaster risk management of Mount
Merapi Yogyakarta case. The use of social media will be seen from the strategies in
emergency management: 1)Information dissemination, 2) Data monitoring, and 3)
Collaboration between organizations and citizens. This study uses in-depth interview
techniques on BPPTKG media center team and community of Merapi. The results
showed that there were differences in social media strategies used by the media center
team in providing information related to disaster. Furthermore, social media turned out
not to be the main vehicle in 21st century emergency management because the
conventional media such as handy talky radio was still very effective to use.