Content features of tweets for effective communication during disasters: A media synchronicity theory perspective

Son, Jaebong; Lee, Hyung Koo; Jin, Sung; Lee, Jintae

doi:10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2018.10.012

Cited by 81 publications

(77 citation statements)

References 63 publications

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“…Researchers have endeavored to better understand Twitterʼs communication conventions-hashtags, URLs, and words to carry information (Son, Lee, Jin, & Lee, 2019); emoticons to express emotional states (e.g., Lo, 2008); and mention (e.g., @) to directly converse with other twitterers (Suh et al, 2010). Hashtags represent an annotation convention communicating the topical information of tweets or the common interests of a community, such as #boulderflood and #coloradostrong (Zubiaga, Spina, Martinez, & Fresno, 2015).…”

Section: Disaster Communication On Twittermentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Not all Twitter communications conventions convey information equally. Words and hashtags convey directly interpretable information, while the information in URLs is unavailable before visiting linked resources (e.g., http://t.co/f5TN63OOLK) (Son et al, 2019); emoticons indicate emotional states rather than situational information. Words and hashtags are conventions that can be directly decoded (or interpreted), while URLs and emoticons are supplementary information after interpretation occurs.…”

Section: Information Entropy and Its Implication For Tweetsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We now switch to a predictive study to gauge the predictive capability of entropy in classifying unobserved tweetsʼ retweet probability. Using tweetsʼ symbolic elements (Son et al, 2019), we defined the following three models: generalizability of the predictive models, three classification algorithms of random forests, Bayes networks, and logistic regression were used to build classifiers to foretell the retweet probability within (i) 5 minutes (i.e., quick retweeting) and (ii) 1 hour (i.e., general retweeting) after posting.…”

Section: Mention_yn Imentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Understanding the uncertainty of disaster tweets and its effect on retweeting: The perspectives of uncertainty reduction theory and information entropy

Son

Lee

Larsen

et al. 2019

Asso for Info Science & Tech

Self Cite

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The rapid and wide dissemination of up‐to‐date, localized information is a central issue during disasters. Being attributed to the original 140‐character length, Twitter provides its users with quick‐posting and easy‐forwarding features that facilitate the timely dissemination of warnings and alerts. However, a concern arises with respect to the terseness of tweets that restricts the amount of information conveyed in a tweet and thus increases a tweetʼs uncertainty. We tackle such concerns by proposing entropy as a measure for a tweetʼs uncertainty. Based on the perspectives of Uncertainty Reduction Theory (URT), we theorize that the more uncertain information of a disaster tweet, the higher the entropy, which will lead to a lower retweet count. By leveraging the statistical and predictive analyses, we provide evidence supporting that entropy validly and reliably assesses the uncertainty of a tweet. This study contributes to improving our understanding of information propagation on Twitter during disasters. Academically, we offer a new variable of entropy to measure a tweetʼs uncertainty, an important factor influencing disaster tweetsʼ retweeting. Entropy plays a critical role to better comprehend URLs and emoticons as a means to convey information. Practically, this research suggests a set of guidelines for effectively crafting disaster messages on Twitter.

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Section: Disaster Communication On Twittermentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Information Entropy and Its Implication For Tweetsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Mention_yn Imentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Understanding the uncertainty of disaster tweets and its effect on retweeting: The perspectives of uncertainty reduction theory and information entropy

Son

Lee

Larsen

et al. 2019

Asso for Info Science & Tech

Self Cite

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“…Social networking sites have a competitive edge as the information can be spread within a matter of seconds. Son et al (2019) and Shaw et al (2013) show that the latest updates on water levels in flood-ravaged areas were reported on Twitter When the emergency strikes, social networking sites are used to disseminate information about injured or missing persons, electricity blackouts, situational updates on transportation problems, closed roads, and regions affected by fire (Sutton et al 2008b). Social media was used to mobilize citizens to volunteer help (Palen and Hughes 2018).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of social media in emergency management during the 2019 flood in Poland

Domalewska¹

2019

Security and Defence Quarterly

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Objectives: The aim of this article is to discuss the role of social media platforms, Facebook and Twitter, during the floods that took place in Poland in May 2019. The following research questions guided the study: (1) How is social media used by different actors at various stages of the disaster management cycle? (2) To what extent were social networking sites used during the 2019 floods in Poland? Methods: The study employed social media analytic tools to analyze social media data published on Facebook and Twitter qualitatively and quantitatively in the period from 1 March to 10 June 2019. Results: Social Media is used during emergencies by various actors for different purposes: emergency services use it to broadcast weather alerts and situational updates; authorities communicate weather alerts and offer assistance; mass media outlets share up-to-date information; individual users connect and share their experiences of the disaster as well as express political views; organizations spread general comments, situational updates and political comments. Conclusions: Despite several drawbacks, such as the chaotic spread of messages, their unreliability and the politicization of the newsfeed, social networking sites support disaster management. Therefore, they should be incorporated as an additional communication channel during emergencies.

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“…Since each phase requires different activities, therefore the information that is shared is different by phases [10,11]. Through these examples it is possible to highlight the advantages that SNS have in relation to traditional media.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Go social for your own safety! Review of social networks use on natural disasters – case studies from worldwide

et al. 2019

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Social networking sites (SNS) became an indispensable part of people’s everyday life, but also a powerful tool of communication during urgent situations, such as during natural disasters. This is evidenced by a large number of research papers showing the use of SNS in difficult circumstances. Some of the ways of using are the dissemination of information about missing persons, warning on further possible consequences, safety checks during natural disasters, communication about places where the population can find help or a safe refuge. At the same time, SNS could increase awareness among the population about natural hazards. Unfortunately, most parts of the world have at least once been hit by a major natural disaster. People who manage such events have a big task in front of them, as they need to exploit the potential of SNS, but also to reduce the negative side, such as spreading inaccurate information in difficult moments. The paper presents ways of using SNS, and the positive and negative effects of these, before, during and after natural disasters.

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Content features of tweets for effective communication during disasters: A media synchronicity theory perspective

Cited by 81 publications

References 63 publications

Understanding the uncertainty of disaster tweets and its effect on retweeting: The perspectives of uncertainty reduction theory and information entropy

Understanding the uncertainty of disaster tweets and its effect on retweeting: The perspectives of uncertainty reduction theory and information entropy

The role of social media in emergency management during the 2019 flood in Poland

Go social for your own safety! Review of social networks use on natural disasters – case studies from worldwide

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