Twitter as a communication tool in the Germanwings and Ebola crises in Europe: analysis and protocol for effective communication management

Abstract

We investigated Twitter communications by the media and institutions regarding two emergency situations which had a major impact in Europe: the accident of Germanwings Flight 9525 in the French Alps on 24 March, 2015, and Ebola infection of Teresa Romero, a nursing assistant at the Hospital Carlos III in Madrid, reported on 6 October, 2014. Our methodology was based on a new tool called top discussion indicator (TDI). Our results indicate that media and institutions do not exploit all the possibilities offered by Twitter. We propose a decalogue of recommendations aimed at improving use of Twitter and ensuring greater communicative efficacy.

El despliegue de las redes sociales por parte de los periodistas en el discurso informativo durante las crisis de salud pública y medio ambiente en España (2019-2022)

“…Through in-depth interviews, this study points out that Twitter is widely used by journalists in crisis news coverage while Instagram and Facebook play a secondary role in their professional practice, especially because both channels are perceived as platforms with less informative value (RQ1). These re-sults reinforced previous research about Twitter as a preferred social media platform in crisis communication (Suau-Gomila et al, 2022;Pont-Sorribes et al, 2020;Watson et al, 2017;Bruns et al, 2012).…”

“…Over the last decade, social media have become very useful communication tools in emergency coverage due to inherent characteristics such as speed, simplicity, horizontality and virality (Chivite-Fernández & Serrano-Rodríguez, 2013). Numerous studies have validated their communicative effectiveness in crisis situations (Brandt et al, 2019;Liu et al, 2019;Sutton et al, 2019), thus positioning social media platforms such as Twitter as a communication resource with great information efficiency and interaction (Suau-Gomila et al, 2022;Pont-Sorribes et al, 2020;Watson et al, 2017;Bruns et al, 2012;Mendoza et al, 2010;Palen et al, 2010;Hughes & Palen, 2009).…”

Interacción, viralidad e influencia en Twitter: análisis de la comunicación de emergencias en el caso de los incendios de Tarragona de 2019

“…La revisión por la literatura que analiza el papel y el modo en que se utilizan los Social Media durante una situación de emergencia es hoy en día cada vez más relevante y abundantes son las investigaciones realizadas en España sobre este tema (Pont-Sorribes, et al, 2020;Molina-Cañabate y Suau-Gomila, 2021;Suau.Gomila, et al, 2022, por destacar las más recientes).…”