Citation

Mehta AM, Bruns A, Newton J. Disasters 2016; 41(3): 549-565.

Affiliation

Researcher, Digital Media Research Centre, Queensland University of Technology, Australia.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/disa.12218

PMID

27652523

Abstract

A lack of trust in the information exchanged via social media may significantly hinder decisionmaking by community members and emergency services during disasters. The need for timely information at such times, though, challenges traditional ways of establishing trust. This paper, building on a multi-year research project that combined social media data analysis and participant observation within an emergency management organisation and in-depth engagement with stakeholders across the sector, pinpoints and examines assumptions governing trust and trusting relationships in social media disaster management. It assesses three models for using social media in disaster management-information gathering, quasi-journalistic verification, and crowdsourcing-in relation to the guardianship of trust to highlight the verification process for content and source and to identify the role of power and responsibilities. The conclusions contain important implications for emergency management organisations seeking to enhance their mechanisms for incorporating user-generated information from social media sources in their disaster response efforts.

© 2016 The Author(s). Disasters © Overseas Development Institute, 2016.

Language: en