Managing social media uncertainty to support the decision making process during Emergencies

Abstract

Recent emergencies have shown the positive impact of using social media and social networks for communicating and exchanging information. Citizens and authorities can make safer decisions during emergencies based on the real-time information available on social media. Decision-making starts with information gathering and social media provides the opportunity to inform multiple citizens at once. However, message and source uncertainty can place emergency stakeholders in a risky position, as it is not always possible to know if messages are accurate, rumours or even malicious. Current approaches for social media information verification focuses on technical resources like analytical packages. Little research has been developed to provide citizens and field workers with tools to evaluate social media information. This paper presents research in progress for developing a verification framework -for all emergency stakeholders -to support their decision-making process by managing social media uncertainty during emergencies.

Crisis Communications in the Age of Social Media

“…While the existing literature has tended to identify social media as a positive tool in crisis communications, significant concerns have been raised over the potential for negative externalities and misuse (both by official and anonymous actors). Both researchers and practitioners have cautioned against social media’s propensity to proliferate inaccurate data, unverified rumors, and even malicious misinformation (Conrado, Neville, Woodworth, & O’Riordan, 2016; Hughes & Palen, 2012; Webb et al, 2016). Because information disseminated through social media is often unverified, identifying accurate data and valid sources can be challenging.…”

Big Data Analytics and Its Role to Support Groundwater Management in the Southern African Development Community

“…The collection of data from heterogeneous sources in a variety of formats creates complexity in assuring the quality of data. For example, data from social media posts are not generated through rigorous scientific processes, and should thus be subjected to enhanced data quality measures [90,91]. Failure to address data quality and uncertainty early in the analysis process can create compounding effects across the big data value chain and can ultimately reduce the accuracy of outputs [71].…”

Crisis Governance, Emergency Management, and the Digital Revolution

“…The proliferation of social media information has made it difficult to assess the veracity of the information. Most solutions to verifying social media information focus on large-scale analytic packages used by a central authority such as state or local emergency management office, but there is a need for more tools that can help citizens or field workers verify information and assess conditions (Conrado et al 2016). For example, the Federal Emergency Management Agency offered a rumor control F.A.Q.…”