Sticking with Landlines? Citizens’ Use and Perception of Social Media in Emergencies and Expectations Towards Emergency Services in Germany

Abstract

Crisis informatics has examined the use, potentials and weaknesses of social media in emergencies across different events (e.g., man-made, natural or hybrid), countries and heterogeneous participants (e.g., citizens or emergency services) for almost two decades. While most research analyzes specific cases, few studies have focused on citizens' perceptions of different social media platforms in emergencies using a representative sample. Basing our questionnaire on a workshop with police officers, we present the results of a representative study on citizens' perception of social media in emergencies that we conducted in Germany. Our study suggests that when it comes to emergencies, socio-demographic differences are largely insignificant and no clear preferences for emergency services' social media strategies exist. Due to the widespread searching behavior on some platforms, emergency services can reach a wide audience by turning to certain channels but should account for groups with distinct preferences.

Cyber Security Politics

“…Social media are often defined as a "group of internet-based applications […] that allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content" (Kaplan and Haenlein 2010). Shaping opinions, politics, participation, and protest (Wulf et al 2013), they are used by citizens for news consumption and social exchange (Robinson et al 2017); by journalists for reporting, analyzing, and collecting information (Stieglitz et al 2018a); and by organizations to monitor crises, emergencies, customer feedback, and sentiment, among others (Haunschild et al 2020). Large-scale international events, such as the 2010 Arab Spring, showcased the potential of socio-technological transformations: Citizens were not passive victims but active and autonomous participants utilizing social media to coordinate protest and for crisis response (Reuter and Kaufhold 2018).…”

Cyberspace in space

“…Social media are often defined as a "group of internet-based applications […] that allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content" (Kaplan and Haenlein 2010). Shaping opinions, politics, participation, and protest (Wulf et al 2013), they are used by citizens for news consumption and social exchange (Robinson et al 2017); by journalists for reporting, analyzing, and collecting information (Stieglitz et al 2018a); and by organizations to monitor crises, emergencies, customer feedback, and sentiment, among others (Haunschild et al 2020). Large-scale international events, such as the 2010 Arab Spring, showcased the potential of socio-technological transformations: Citizens were not passive victims but active and autonomous participants utilizing social media to coordinate protest and for crisis response (Reuter and Kaufhold 2018).…”

Marketing Strategies on Social Media Platforms

“…Evaluating the crisis origin involves considerations on whether it occurred from an internal or external factor. Identifying the cause enables crisis managers to develop response strategies based on the identified attribution of responsibility (Haunschild et al, 2020). For example, a particular sector company can experience a negative spillover effect resulting from a competitor's product-harm crisis (He et al, 2018).…”