The impact of social media on disaster relief effort – recovery coordination for Hurricane Harvey

Abstract

Purpose This study aims to investigate patterns of social media posting occurring during the initial post-disaster recovery period. In addition, the study investigates the antecedents of user engagement with Twitter posts or “tweets.” Design/methodology/approach This study uses Hurricane Harvey as the research focus because of its $125bn in damage and the recovery effort associated with it. Analyzing nearly 38,000 tweets related to 2017’s Hurricane Harvey and specifically focuses on rescuers who became to be known as the “Cajun Navy.” Findings The popularity of the tweet significantly influences social media engagement; disaster relief organizations first should seek out alliances and partnerships with those who already are well-known or influential in social media. In addition, by regularly monitoring and participating in social media, such as encouraging retweets and mentions even when not responding to a disaster, agencies will gain social media followers and influence when these are most needed. Research limitations/implications By analyzing patterns of social media posts during and after Hurricane Harvey, this study attempts to quantify social media’s effectiveness during this disaster, in particular with a focus on what characteristics of Harvey-related Twitter posts most influenced user engagement. Practical implications Findings underscore the need for agencies to strengthen their social media presence and use it in all three phases of disaster conceptualization. Beyond managing communication with other agencies and the community, which alone is critical for an agency’s impact, social media offers the world as a potential audience for agencies that can deftly leverage it. Originality/value Social media has revolutionized not only communication but also inter-connectivity as people have normalized its use. Its ubiquity and efficiency have seen its incorporation into the critical area of emergency management, both during and after disasters. The main objective of this paper is to investigate and evaluate the usefulness of social media in disaster recovery efforts, focusing on its advantages in relation to a recent disaster event.

Twitter data from the 2019–20 Australian bushfires reveals participatory and temporal variations in social media use for disaster recovery

“… Overall, Twitter activity around the bushfires dropped significantly over time, particularly after the active phase of the disaster. This finding is consistent with previous studies which report that social media use for disaster recovery is challenging to study because the tail off in the volume of data prevents meaningful analysis 8 , 16 . Emergency agencies were found to be more active on Twitter during the early phase of the disaster, contributing significantly towards information support as well as reconstruction and infrastructure services.…”

“…Overall, Twitter activity around the bushfires dropped significantly over time, particularly after the active phase of the disaster. This finding is consistent with previous studies which report that social media use for disaster recovery is challenging to study because the tail off in the volume of data prevents meaningful analysis 8 , 16 .…”

“…One key issue, though, is that unlike disaster response that occurs during the active phase of natural hazards when public interest and social media engagement is the highest, disaster recovery lingers well beyond the active phase to a time when interest in the event gradually drops. Previous studies have reported that the reduction in the volume of messages could potentially limit social media’s role in disaster recovery 8 , 16 . This situation motivates the present investigation of social media patterns, including who contributes to the generation of social media data for disaster recovery, what aspects of disaster recovery they contribute to, and how well that participation is sustained over time.…”

Identifying gaps in early warning mechanisms and evacuation procedures for tsunamis in Sri Lanka, with a special focus on the use of social media

“…Finau et al, (2018) reveal that social media has contributed to information-sharing before, during, and after Tropical Cyclone Winston innovatively and efficiently. Furthermore, Hazarika et al, (2020) illustrate that social media has influenced the effective engagement of disaster relief services during Hurricane Harvey.…”

The impact of post-disaster communication on destination visiting intention

“…Official accounts and influencer accounts on social media Prior research has primarily examined the effectiveness of post-disaster communication provided by official accounts (Sano and Sano, 2019;Waters and Williams, 2011). However, post-disaster messages can also be disseminated through influencer accounts (Gonz alez Romo et al, 2020;Hazarika et al, 2020). Consumers are often more influenced by social media influencers than by organizations' information on social media (Jin et al, 2014).…”