Using Twitter for crisis communications in a natural disaster: Hurricane Harvey

Abstract

This article examines the use of social media, specifically Twitter, in crisis communications during a natural disaster and how it can provide information, guidance, reassurance and hope to victims while keeping others across the nation and the world apprised of the situation so they can provide assistance, as needed. A case study looks at how the mayor of Houston, Texas, Sylvester Turner, used Twitter during Hurricane Harvey in August and September of 2017. The case study is analyzed using restorative rhetoric theory, revealing the use of Twitter by Mayor Turner to be a strong example of successful restorative rhetoric during a natural disaster. This research affirms the findings of other researchers that the restorative rhetoric stages overlap, and that the theory may be improved with some variation based on crisis type. This research also shows that Mayor Turner's use of Twitter exemplifies best practices for using social media in crisis communications with very few opportunities for improvement. This article offers suggestions to crisis managers on how to use Twitter to prepare for, communicate during, and go forward following a natural disaster.

Engaging social media users with attitudinal messages during health crisis communication

“…Social media can thus be used not only as a complementary channel to release crisis information, but also a tool to monitor public opinions, promote social cohesion, and foster support ( Alexander, 2014 , Zhang et al, 2019 ). It was found that during crises such as extreme weather and outbreaks of infections, crisis-related messages communicated by news media outlets, government and health authorities on social media could increase public engagement as they prompted public responses in form of ‘likes’, ‘shares’, and ‘comments’ (e.g., Ngai et al, 2020 , Bruns et al, 2012 , Criado et al, 2020 , Househ, 2016 , Vera-Burgos and Padgett, 2020 ). These social media cues are meaningful indicators of engagement.…”

Identifying and Characterizing the Propagation Scale of COVID-19 Situational Information on Twitter: A Hybrid Text Analytic Approach

“…In a case study, Catherine et al investigate the usage analysis of the Twitter handle of the Mayor of Houston during the hurricanes Sandy and Harvey in August and September of 2017 [29]. In another study, researchers compared machine learning algorithms in the extraction of geo-tagged tweets during emergencies; they used 10 machine learning classifiers on location-oriented disaster-related tweets [30].…”

Advancing trauma care through social media

“…During multiple natural disasters, social media has been used to coordinate volunteer efforts, relay real-time information, aid in the localization of victims, and access to resources such as food. [28][29][30][31][32] Despite this, communication remains one of the greatest challenges during a large-scale disaster. 27 28 33 During the Maryville shooting, it took 28 minutes to get communication to law enforcement.…”