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New Web 2.0 technologies such as wikis permit any organizational member of a virtual community of practice (CoP) to dynamically edit, integrate, and rewrite content (what we call knowledge shaping) as well as contribute personal knowledge. Previous research on factors that motivate contribution in virtual CoPs has focused exclusively on factors explaining why people contribute their personal knowledge, with no research focused on why people make the knowledge-shaping contributions (rewriting, integrating, and restructuring pages) which are possible with wikis. We hypothesize that factors that explain frequency of contribution will be different for those who shape from those who contribute only their personal knowledge. The results support our hypotheses. In addition, we find that shapers are not more likely to be managers or members of a community's core group who might typically serve in an administrator role, contrary to prior expectations. The implications of using Web 2.0 tools to encourage this shaping behavior are discussed.

The US response to the 2010 Haiti Earthquake was a large effort coordinated by three major agencies that worked in tandem with the Government of Haiti, the United Nations, and many countries from around the globe. Managing this response effort was a complex undertaking that relied extensively on knowledge management systems (KMS). For the first time, however, US government agencies employed social media technologies such as wikis and collaborative workspaces as the main knowledge sharing mechanisms. In this research we present a case study developed through action research of how these social media technologies were used, what influences they made on knowledge sharing, reuse, and decision‐making, and how knowledge was effectively (and at times ineffectively) maintained in these systems. First‐hand knowledge of the response is used, offering strategies for future deployment of social media and important research questions that remain regarding social media as knowledge management systems, particularly for disaster and emergency management.

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Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate how organizations use social media such as blogs to share and re-used knowledge during contingencies, disasters, and emergencies. The factors related to the knowledge itself – rather than the media – which lead to more and less re-use (particularly in the fast-paced and uncertain context of emergencies) are not well known. Design/methodology/approach Integrating theories of social media, knowledge management and mass communication, the author develops a model of the characteristics of knowledge (focus, function and features), characteristics of knowledge sharers and the user’s needs, which influence the extent to which knowledge is re-used. Findings A study of 645 blog posts revealed why some knowledge is re-used in emergencies more than other types of knowledge. Surprisingly, non-event-related knowledge is re-used more often than event-related knowledge, perhaps because users are less certain about how they would re-use non-event knowledge and, thus, are paradoxically more interested in what it might offer. Results also indicate several other factors which impact re-use. Practical implications Traditional mechanisms used to evaluate knowledge for reuse such as rank and organizational status are less important than the focus and function of the knowledge itself; they offer practitioners strategies for more efficient knowledge sharing during emergencies and identify opportunities for more effective employment of emergency management social media. Originality/value One of the first studies to dig deeper into factors of knowledge shared and re-used during emergencies, this research integrates several theoretical streams to explain why some knowledge is more valuable for re-use. It increases the understanding of knowledge sharing during disasters and offers strategies for development of knowledge systems for future emergencies.