This document discusses elaborating the key public classifications in the Social-Mediated Crisis Communication model through network analysis of airline Twitter data. It defines key concepts from social network analysis, including social mediators, who are influential social media creators that bridge clusters of users, and clusters, which are subgroups of tightly interconnected users. The document proposes defining social mediators as influential social media creators and clusters as social media followers for consistency between the SMCC model and social network analysis approaches. Network analysis of airline Twitter data will help further develop and test the SMCC model's framework for understanding key publics in social-mediated crisis situations.
Citizen Communications in Crisis - Liu and PalenSophia B Liu
This document discusses how information and communication technologies (ICT) are changing disaster response by enabling new forms of public participation and peer-to-peer communication. It analyzes case studies of recent disasters to understand how citizens use technologies like social media to share information and support each other. The emergence of these grassroots activities presents new challenges and opportunities for formal emergency response systems, which traditionally follow a top-down command structure. The document argues more research is needed to understand these changes and ensure technology is designed and implemented in a way that supports both public participation and coordinated response efforts.
Framing Theory and Gang Culture- Comparing At-Risk Youths’ Perception of Gang...Anakaren Cárdenas Ureño
This document discusses framing theory and how gang culture is portrayed in media versus how at-risk youth perceive gangs. It reviews literature on how media frames issues and events using techniques like episodic framing. Media coverage of gangs often focuses on criminal acts and portrays gang members as violent through headlines and images. However, this framing may not accurately capture the human experiences and contexts of gang involvement. The paper aims to compare at-risk youth perspectives on gangs to media depictions by conducting interviews.
1. The document discusses how online grassroots activists in Nepal attempted to empower marginalized communities affected by two earthquakes in 2015 by giving them visibility and a voice, as established humanitarian agencies focused aid primarily on urban areas.
2. It notes that some rural areas and communities of "untouchables" had still received no assistance two months after the first quake, showing how old power structures influenced the response despite being destabilized.
3. The author explores how changing power dynamics in disaster contexts can shape humanitarian responses and the role of online activists in connecting overlooked groups to information and assistance networks to better meet their needs and build long-term resilience.
This document summarizes a study on word-of-mouth (WOM) and social influence on Facebook. The study examined WOM at both the individual and network levels. At the individual level, it looked at identifying influential users and their characteristics. It found that an observation method of influence was more valid than self-designation. At the network level, it developed a structural social influence model of Facebook WOM incorporating direct contact, interpersonal contagion, and network embeddedness. The model was tested on a network of nearly 4,000 users to understand how social network factors influence WOM.
This study assessed formal and informal networks involved in public health response during Florida's devastating 2004 hurricane season. Researchers conducted interviews with response participants to identify relationships between formal and informal healthcare networks at the local level and how these networks functioned and communicated. Preliminary results found that strong leadership, relationship building, and addressing logistical challenges were important. Volunteers were also instrumental in response, either as spontaneous, unaffiliated aid or through becoming affiliated with formal groups. Future research directions included further exploration of how informal networks emerge and fill response gaps as well as assessing current understanding and "lessons learned" regarding informal network surge capacity.
Unpacking the social media phenomenon: towards a research agendaIan McCarthy
In this paper, we highlight some of the challenges and opportunities that social media presents to researchers, and offer relevant theoretical avenues to be explored. To do this, we present a model that unpacks social media by using a honeycomb of seven functional building blocks. We then examine each of the seven building blocks and, through appropriate social and socio-technical theories, raise questions that warrant further in-depth research to advance the conceptualization of social media in public affairs research. Finally, we combine the individual research questions for each building block back into the honeycomb model to illustrate how the theories in combination provide a powerful macro-lens for research on social media dynamics.
Social Media, Crisis Communication and Emergency Management: Leveraging Web 2...Connie White
Detailing guidelines and safe practices for using social media across a range of emergency management applications‚ Social Media, Crisis Communication, and Emergency Management: Leveraging Web 2.0 Technologies supplies cutting-edge methods to help you inform the public‚ reduce information overload‚ and ultimately‚ save more lives.
Introduces collaborative mapping tools that can be customized to your needs
Explores free and open-source disaster management systems‚ such as Sahana and Ushahidi
Covers freely available social media technologies—including Facebook‚ Twitter‚ and YouTube
Increasingly, scholars have come to see the news media as playing a pivotal role in shaping
whether social movements are able to bring about broader social change. By drawing attention
to movements’ issues, claims, and supporters, the news media can shape the public
agenda by influencing public opinion, authorities, and elites. Why are some social movement
organizations more successful than others at gaining media coverage? Specifically, what organizational,
tactical, and issue characteristics enhance media attention? We combine detailed
organizational survey data from a representative sample of 187 local environmental organizations
in North Carolina with complete news coverage of those organizations in 11 major daily
newspapers in the two years following the survey (2,095 articles). Our analyses reveal that
local news media favor professional and formalized groups that employ routine advocacy tactics,
mobilize large numbers of people, and work on issues that overlap with newspapers’
focus on local economic growth and well-being. Groups that are confrontational, volunteerled,
or advocate on behalf of novel issues do not garner as much attention in local media outlets.
These findings have important implications and challenge widely held claims about the
pathways by which movement actors shape the public agenda through the news media.
Citizen Communications in Crisis - Liu and PalenSophia B Liu
This document discusses how information and communication technologies (ICT) are changing disaster response by enabling new forms of public participation and peer-to-peer communication. It analyzes case studies of recent disasters to understand how citizens use technologies like social media to share information and support each other. The emergence of these grassroots activities presents new challenges and opportunities for formal emergency response systems, which traditionally follow a top-down command structure. The document argues more research is needed to understand these changes and ensure technology is designed and implemented in a way that supports both public participation and coordinated response efforts.
Framing Theory and Gang Culture- Comparing At-Risk Youths’ Perception of Gang...Anakaren Cárdenas Ureño
This document discusses framing theory and how gang culture is portrayed in media versus how at-risk youth perceive gangs. It reviews literature on how media frames issues and events using techniques like episodic framing. Media coverage of gangs often focuses on criminal acts and portrays gang members as violent through headlines and images. However, this framing may not accurately capture the human experiences and contexts of gang involvement. The paper aims to compare at-risk youth perspectives on gangs to media depictions by conducting interviews.
1. The document discusses how online grassroots activists in Nepal attempted to empower marginalized communities affected by two earthquakes in 2015 by giving them visibility and a voice, as established humanitarian agencies focused aid primarily on urban areas.
2. It notes that some rural areas and communities of "untouchables" had still received no assistance two months after the first quake, showing how old power structures influenced the response despite being destabilized.
3. The author explores how changing power dynamics in disaster contexts can shape humanitarian responses and the role of online activists in connecting overlooked groups to information and assistance networks to better meet their needs and build long-term resilience.
This document summarizes a study on word-of-mouth (WOM) and social influence on Facebook. The study examined WOM at both the individual and network levels. At the individual level, it looked at identifying influential users and their characteristics. It found that an observation method of influence was more valid than self-designation. At the network level, it developed a structural social influence model of Facebook WOM incorporating direct contact, interpersonal contagion, and network embeddedness. The model was tested on a network of nearly 4,000 users to understand how social network factors influence WOM.
This study assessed formal and informal networks involved in public health response during Florida's devastating 2004 hurricane season. Researchers conducted interviews with response participants to identify relationships between formal and informal healthcare networks at the local level and how these networks functioned and communicated. Preliminary results found that strong leadership, relationship building, and addressing logistical challenges were important. Volunteers were also instrumental in response, either as spontaneous, unaffiliated aid or through becoming affiliated with formal groups. Future research directions included further exploration of how informal networks emerge and fill response gaps as well as assessing current understanding and "lessons learned" regarding informal network surge capacity.
Unpacking the social media phenomenon: towards a research agendaIan McCarthy
In this paper, we highlight some of the challenges and opportunities that social media presents to researchers, and offer relevant theoretical avenues to be explored. To do this, we present a model that unpacks social media by using a honeycomb of seven functional building blocks. We then examine each of the seven building blocks and, through appropriate social and socio-technical theories, raise questions that warrant further in-depth research to advance the conceptualization of social media in public affairs research. Finally, we combine the individual research questions for each building block back into the honeycomb model to illustrate how the theories in combination provide a powerful macro-lens for research on social media dynamics.
Social Media, Crisis Communication and Emergency Management: Leveraging Web 2...Connie White
Detailing guidelines and safe practices for using social media across a range of emergency management applications‚ Social Media, Crisis Communication, and Emergency Management: Leveraging Web 2.0 Technologies supplies cutting-edge methods to help you inform the public‚ reduce information overload‚ and ultimately‚ save more lives.
Introduces collaborative mapping tools that can be customized to your needs
Explores free and open-source disaster management systems‚ such as Sahana and Ushahidi
Covers freely available social media technologies—including Facebook‚ Twitter‚ and YouTube
Increasingly, scholars have come to see the news media as playing a pivotal role in shaping
whether social movements are able to bring about broader social change. By drawing attention
to movements’ issues, claims, and supporters, the news media can shape the public
agenda by influencing public opinion, authorities, and elites. Why are some social movement
organizations more successful than others at gaining media coverage? Specifically, what organizational,
tactical, and issue characteristics enhance media attention? We combine detailed
organizational survey data from a representative sample of 187 local environmental organizations
in North Carolina with complete news coverage of those organizations in 11 major daily
newspapers in the two years following the survey (2,095 articles). Our analyses reveal that
local news media favor professional and formalized groups that employ routine advocacy tactics,
mobilize large numbers of people, and work on issues that overlap with newspapers’
focus on local economic growth and well-being. Groups that are confrontational, volunteerled,
or advocate on behalf of novel issues do not garner as much attention in local media outlets.
These findings have important implications and challenge widely held claims about the
pathways by which movement actors shape the public agenda through the news media.
This document discusses how the shipping company Maersk Line uses social media to create transparency, empowerment, and engagement with its audiences. It focuses on Maersk's listen-and-learn strategy on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. The strategy aims to build relationships by understanding audience interests and topics and selecting the appropriate social media channels and content. When done effectively through ongoing dedication and alignment, a social media strategy can help form valuable connections with key stakeholders.
This document proposes an approach to model Social Media Collaborative Work (SMCW) using a case study of a diabetes self-help community. The authors apply Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) and i* modeling to understand stakeholder viewpoints, relationships, and how SMCW can support healthcare goals. Through action research with stakeholders, the authors develop models of the SMCW domain, problems, and requirements to facilitate collaborative work through social media while ensuring privacy and other concerns are addressed.
This document reviews methodological approaches to studying neighborhood effects on choice and well-being. It summarizes the original concepts from the Chicago School of urban sociology and critiques their assumptions. It then describes two prominent contemporary studies: the Moving to Opportunity social experiment, which used randomized controlled trials to study the effects of relocating families from high-poverty to low-poverty neighborhoods; and Sampson's work using statistical analysis and social network theory to understand neighborhood influences. The document argues these modern approaches partially address earlier critiques but questions remain about fully accounting for institutional and structural factors.
Eltantawy wiest2011 Relation Sandro Suzart SUZART GOOGLE INC United St...Sandro Suzart
relationship between Sandro Suzart SUZART GOOGLE INC and United States on Demonstrations 2013 and Impeachments of 22 governments Relation, Sandro Suzart, SUZART, GOOGLE INC, United States on Demonstrations countries IMPEACHMENT GOOGLE INC
This document provides background information on Communication for Development (C4D) and women's rights. It defines C4D as aiming to achieve progress in underdeveloped areas through two-way dialogue and local involvement. The definition has evolved with communication theories and development theses, now comprising different approaches. Women's rights have improved over decades but still need development legally and culturally. The document analyzes two C4D campaigns on women's rights issues - a successful "Ban FGM" campaign and an unsuccessful "Let Them Play" campaign - to understand strengths and weaknesses of each approach.
Social media has changed crisis communication by enabling grassroots information sharing and citizen participation. This document analyzes academic research, European research projects, and real-world cases on social media's role in crisis management. It finds that while social media is increasingly used in crises, its collaborative potential remains underutilized. Academic research focuses more on macro perspectives than individual impacts and lacks qualitative studies. Research gaps include empirical analyses of social media tools and non-Western perspectives. Overall, further research is needed to fully realize social media's benefits and address challenges like coordinating unverified information.
The document discusses media censorship and its effect on public discourse. It argues that media outlets censor information by selectively reporting stories that appeal to their target audiences, failing to ask difficult questions, and framing issues in polarized ways. This can damage public trust and understanding of complex issues. The document also examines how government and self-censorship influence the information that reaches the public, and how agenda-setting and framing theories show that the media has significant power to shape public perceptions through censorship and biased reporting. Overall, the document argues that a transparent, uncensored media is vital for an informed citizenry and democratic society.
The document summarizes several media system theories, including media system dependency theory and hegemony theory. It provides definitions, key assertions, and examples of each. Media system dependency theory proposes that the influence of media depends on how much an individual relies on media to meet needs. Hegemony theory suggests that dominant social groups can manipulate ideas to make their worldview accepted as normal.
The document summarizes several key mass communication theories including agenda-setting, priming, framing, elaboration likelihood model, and third-person effects. It discusses how agenda-setting research examines how media influence public salience and perception of issues. Priming extends this to include evaluation standards and voting behavior. Framing looks at how language and schemas shape audience interpretation. The elaboration likelihood model examines central and peripheral message processing. Third-person effects propose people see media as influencing others more than themselves.
This document summarizes a study that compares the use of Facebook Groups and Causes as tools for cyberactivism in Chile and the Concepción area. The study aimed to determine if these applications are used for cyberactivism related to real-world issues and places in Chile. It also sought to identify trends in topics of discussion and whether there are correlations between topics discussed nationally and locally. The main findings were that Facebook is mainly used to strengthen existing social ties rather than create new connections, and that it allows for distributed organization without centralized control of information.
Amani Channel's research: "Gatekeeping and Citizen Journalism: A Qualitative Examination of Participatory Media." Presented 8/5/10 at AEJMC 2010, Denver.
This document discusses using an interdisciplinary approach to understand the complex issue of fracking and its related policies. The author proposes examining the problem through the lenses of mass communication and organizational leadership. Mass communication could help communicate information to the public to increase understanding of fracking, while organizational leadership may help analyze existing policies and how communities could be better involved in the policy-making process. Literature is reviewed from various relevant disciplines including political science, environmental protection, and risk communication to gain insights from each. Some conflicts between the sources are identified, such as differing views on what level of government regulates fracking policies. The author aims to take an interdisciplinary approach to develop a more comprehensive understanding of the issue.
Suazo%2c martínez & elgueta english version2011990
This document summarizes a study that analyzed the use of Facebook Groups and Causes as tools for cyberactivism in Chile and the Concepción area. The study found that social networks mainly strengthen existing social ties rather than create new connections. It also found that Facebook's horizontal structure and lack of centralized control enables strong information sharing. Finally, the study aimed to determine if Groups or Causes were better for generating cyberactivism campaigns and setting independent social media agendas.
Stakeholder Engagement and Public Information Through Social Media: A Study o...Marco Bellucci
Manetti, G., Bellucci, M., & Bagnoli, L. (2016). Stakeholder Engagement and Public Information Through Social Media: A Study of Canadian and American Public Transportation Agencies. The American Review of Public Administration. doi:10.1177/0275074016649260
http://arp.sagepub.com/content/early/2016/05/13/0275074016649260.short
Big data analytics: from threatening privacy to challenging democracySamos2019Summit
Big data analytics pose threats to individual and group privacy that can undermine key aspects of democracy. The use of big data for political targeting and messaging allows extensive profiling, prediction of views and behaviors, and manipulation of opinions. Over time, this can fragment political messages, obstruct open debate, and chill political expression through surveillance and the risk of being inaccurately profiled. Protecting privacy is important for maintaining fair elections and pluralism of ideas.
Social Media and the Disciplining of VisibilityJakob Svensson
This document summarizes a research paper about how social media usage relates to power dynamics and participation among activists in Stockholm, Sweden. The researcher conducted ethnographic and online observations of activists fighting to save a local public bathhouse. While social media made it easier to spread information and mobilize support, it also disciplined activists by pushing them to constantly update their online presence and participate in both online and offline events. The constant connectivity inherent in social media led activists to feel obligated to respond immediately to posted information. Therefore, social media both enabled participation but also exerted a new form of social power by disciplining activists through demands of constant online visibility and responsiveness.
Statement for the Record of Heather Blanchard, Co Founder of CrisisCommons before the Ad Hoc Subcommittee on Disaster Recovery and Intergovernmental Affairs, Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, United States Senate on May 19, 2011
Mark bahnisch insights from sociology on social media in times of crisis 040413Dr Mark Bahnisch
This document discusses how social media can help or hinder communication during times of crisis. It notes that crises "deritualise" normal patterns of meaning and action. Social media can help people make sense of what is happening and coordinate assistance. However, pre-existing social networks and trust levels affect how well information spreads and people cooperate. Areas with stronger social networks tend to be more resilient during emergencies, while those with weaker networks and less trust struggle more. Effective emergency strategies must account for variable trust within communities and work to strengthen weaker networks.
This document discusses building community resilience through partnerships. It outlines FEMA's Whole Community concept which aims to engage citizens in emergency planning and preparedness to increase resilience. The concept recognizes that communities have unique needs, capabilities and social networks. By understanding these factors and collaborating with existing community groups and organizations, emergency managers can better support communities to prepare for disasters and recover more quickly. However, barriers like limited funding make it challenging to implement meaningful community engagement as envisioned by the Whole Community approach.
This thesis examines media coverage of natural hazards using two databases created from web-based news sources. The databases track coverage of earthquakes, floods and landslides from 2005-2009. The thesis analyzes temporal and spatial trends in coverage, and explores how geophysical and event-specific factors influence the amount and type of media reporting. Case studies of individual hazard events are also presented. The goal is to better understand the physical and social dynamics of catastrophic natural hazards through analysis of internet-based media representations and responses over time.
Social media has become an important channel for crisis communication management. It allows organizations to communicate with stakeholders efficiently and minimize the negative impacts of crises. However, most existing crisis communication theories were developed before social media and do not account for its capabilities. There is a lack of international research on using social media for crisis communication across different geographic and cultural contexts. Developing global best practices could help organizations leverage social media effectively while managing reputational risks during crises.
This document discusses a study examining how the speed of an organization's response on social media during a crisis affects outcomes. It will analyze case studies to understand how response time and messaging frequency impacted public perception. The literature review found that communicating via Twitter during a crisis leads to better reputation management than blogs or newspapers. However, more research is needed on how quickly information must flow on social media and how response frequency influences effectiveness. The study aims to provide crisis communicators a better sense of the time available before messaging in social media.
This document discusses how the shipping company Maersk Line uses social media to create transparency, empowerment, and engagement with its audiences. It focuses on Maersk's listen-and-learn strategy on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. The strategy aims to build relationships by understanding audience interests and topics and selecting the appropriate social media channels and content. When done effectively through ongoing dedication and alignment, a social media strategy can help form valuable connections with key stakeholders.
This document proposes an approach to model Social Media Collaborative Work (SMCW) using a case study of a diabetes self-help community. The authors apply Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) and i* modeling to understand stakeholder viewpoints, relationships, and how SMCW can support healthcare goals. Through action research with stakeholders, the authors develop models of the SMCW domain, problems, and requirements to facilitate collaborative work through social media while ensuring privacy and other concerns are addressed.
This document reviews methodological approaches to studying neighborhood effects on choice and well-being. It summarizes the original concepts from the Chicago School of urban sociology and critiques their assumptions. It then describes two prominent contemporary studies: the Moving to Opportunity social experiment, which used randomized controlled trials to study the effects of relocating families from high-poverty to low-poverty neighborhoods; and Sampson's work using statistical analysis and social network theory to understand neighborhood influences. The document argues these modern approaches partially address earlier critiques but questions remain about fully accounting for institutional and structural factors.
Eltantawy wiest2011 Relation Sandro Suzart SUZART GOOGLE INC United St...Sandro Suzart
relationship between Sandro Suzart SUZART GOOGLE INC and United States on Demonstrations 2013 and Impeachments of 22 governments Relation, Sandro Suzart, SUZART, GOOGLE INC, United States on Demonstrations countries IMPEACHMENT GOOGLE INC
This document provides background information on Communication for Development (C4D) and women's rights. It defines C4D as aiming to achieve progress in underdeveloped areas through two-way dialogue and local involvement. The definition has evolved with communication theories and development theses, now comprising different approaches. Women's rights have improved over decades but still need development legally and culturally. The document analyzes two C4D campaigns on women's rights issues - a successful "Ban FGM" campaign and an unsuccessful "Let Them Play" campaign - to understand strengths and weaknesses of each approach.
Social media has changed crisis communication by enabling grassroots information sharing and citizen participation. This document analyzes academic research, European research projects, and real-world cases on social media's role in crisis management. It finds that while social media is increasingly used in crises, its collaborative potential remains underutilized. Academic research focuses more on macro perspectives than individual impacts and lacks qualitative studies. Research gaps include empirical analyses of social media tools and non-Western perspectives. Overall, further research is needed to fully realize social media's benefits and address challenges like coordinating unverified information.
The document discusses media censorship and its effect on public discourse. It argues that media outlets censor information by selectively reporting stories that appeal to their target audiences, failing to ask difficult questions, and framing issues in polarized ways. This can damage public trust and understanding of complex issues. The document also examines how government and self-censorship influence the information that reaches the public, and how agenda-setting and framing theories show that the media has significant power to shape public perceptions through censorship and biased reporting. Overall, the document argues that a transparent, uncensored media is vital for an informed citizenry and democratic society.
The document summarizes several media system theories, including media system dependency theory and hegemony theory. It provides definitions, key assertions, and examples of each. Media system dependency theory proposes that the influence of media depends on how much an individual relies on media to meet needs. Hegemony theory suggests that dominant social groups can manipulate ideas to make their worldview accepted as normal.
The document summarizes several key mass communication theories including agenda-setting, priming, framing, elaboration likelihood model, and third-person effects. It discusses how agenda-setting research examines how media influence public salience and perception of issues. Priming extends this to include evaluation standards and voting behavior. Framing looks at how language and schemas shape audience interpretation. The elaboration likelihood model examines central and peripheral message processing. Third-person effects propose people see media as influencing others more than themselves.
This document summarizes a study that compares the use of Facebook Groups and Causes as tools for cyberactivism in Chile and the Concepción area. The study aimed to determine if these applications are used for cyberactivism related to real-world issues and places in Chile. It also sought to identify trends in topics of discussion and whether there are correlations between topics discussed nationally and locally. The main findings were that Facebook is mainly used to strengthen existing social ties rather than create new connections, and that it allows for distributed organization without centralized control of information.
Amani Channel's research: "Gatekeeping and Citizen Journalism: A Qualitative Examination of Participatory Media." Presented 8/5/10 at AEJMC 2010, Denver.
This document discusses using an interdisciplinary approach to understand the complex issue of fracking and its related policies. The author proposes examining the problem through the lenses of mass communication and organizational leadership. Mass communication could help communicate information to the public to increase understanding of fracking, while organizational leadership may help analyze existing policies and how communities could be better involved in the policy-making process. Literature is reviewed from various relevant disciplines including political science, environmental protection, and risk communication to gain insights from each. Some conflicts between the sources are identified, such as differing views on what level of government regulates fracking policies. The author aims to take an interdisciplinary approach to develop a more comprehensive understanding of the issue.
Suazo%2c martínez & elgueta english version2011990
This document summarizes a study that analyzed the use of Facebook Groups and Causes as tools for cyberactivism in Chile and the Concepción area. The study found that social networks mainly strengthen existing social ties rather than create new connections. It also found that Facebook's horizontal structure and lack of centralized control enables strong information sharing. Finally, the study aimed to determine if Groups or Causes were better for generating cyberactivism campaigns and setting independent social media agendas.
Stakeholder Engagement and Public Information Through Social Media: A Study o...Marco Bellucci
Manetti, G., Bellucci, M., & Bagnoli, L. (2016). Stakeholder Engagement and Public Information Through Social Media: A Study of Canadian and American Public Transportation Agencies. The American Review of Public Administration. doi:10.1177/0275074016649260
http://arp.sagepub.com/content/early/2016/05/13/0275074016649260.short
Big data analytics: from threatening privacy to challenging democracySamos2019Summit
Big data analytics pose threats to individual and group privacy that can undermine key aspects of democracy. The use of big data for political targeting and messaging allows extensive profiling, prediction of views and behaviors, and manipulation of opinions. Over time, this can fragment political messages, obstruct open debate, and chill political expression through surveillance and the risk of being inaccurately profiled. Protecting privacy is important for maintaining fair elections and pluralism of ideas.
Social Media and the Disciplining of VisibilityJakob Svensson
This document summarizes a research paper about how social media usage relates to power dynamics and participation among activists in Stockholm, Sweden. The researcher conducted ethnographic and online observations of activists fighting to save a local public bathhouse. While social media made it easier to spread information and mobilize support, it also disciplined activists by pushing them to constantly update their online presence and participate in both online and offline events. The constant connectivity inherent in social media led activists to feel obligated to respond immediately to posted information. Therefore, social media both enabled participation but also exerted a new form of social power by disciplining activists through demands of constant online visibility and responsiveness.
Statement for the Record of Heather Blanchard, Co Founder of CrisisCommons before the Ad Hoc Subcommittee on Disaster Recovery and Intergovernmental Affairs, Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, United States Senate on May 19, 2011
Mark bahnisch insights from sociology on social media in times of crisis 040413Dr Mark Bahnisch
This document discusses how social media can help or hinder communication during times of crisis. It notes that crises "deritualise" normal patterns of meaning and action. Social media can help people make sense of what is happening and coordinate assistance. However, pre-existing social networks and trust levels affect how well information spreads and people cooperate. Areas with stronger social networks tend to be more resilient during emergencies, while those with weaker networks and less trust struggle more. Effective emergency strategies must account for variable trust within communities and work to strengthen weaker networks.
This document discusses building community resilience through partnerships. It outlines FEMA's Whole Community concept which aims to engage citizens in emergency planning and preparedness to increase resilience. The concept recognizes that communities have unique needs, capabilities and social networks. By understanding these factors and collaborating with existing community groups and organizations, emergency managers can better support communities to prepare for disasters and recover more quickly. However, barriers like limited funding make it challenging to implement meaningful community engagement as envisioned by the Whole Community approach.
This thesis examines media coverage of natural hazards using two databases created from web-based news sources. The databases track coverage of earthquakes, floods and landslides from 2005-2009. The thesis analyzes temporal and spatial trends in coverage, and explores how geophysical and event-specific factors influence the amount and type of media reporting. Case studies of individual hazard events are also presented. The goal is to better understand the physical and social dynamics of catastrophic natural hazards through analysis of internet-based media representations and responses over time.
Social media has become an important channel for crisis communication management. It allows organizations to communicate with stakeholders efficiently and minimize the negative impacts of crises. However, most existing crisis communication theories were developed before social media and do not account for its capabilities. There is a lack of international research on using social media for crisis communication across different geographic and cultural contexts. Developing global best practices could help organizations leverage social media effectively while managing reputational risks during crises.
This document discusses a study examining how the speed of an organization's response on social media during a crisis affects outcomes. It will analyze case studies to understand how response time and messaging frequency impacted public perception. The literature review found that communicating via Twitter during a crisis leads to better reputation management than blogs or newspapers. However, more research is needed on how quickly information must flow on social media and how response frequency influences effectiveness. The study aims to provide crisis communicators a better sense of the time available before messaging in social media.
Assignment models public relations quotesenock nyoni
The document discusses the evolution of public relations from traditional to modern practices with the rise of digital technologies and social media. It covers key topics such as:
1) How public relations has shifted from one-way communication models to two-way symmetrical models that emphasize mutual understanding between organizations and their publics.
2) The changing roles of PR from controlled messaging to dealing with uncontrolled online communication.
3) The rise of owned, paid, and earned media and how organizations use these different channels for public relations. Owned media refers to channels an organization fully controls like their website or social media, while earned media involves third party endorsements.
4) Grunig's models of public relations that progressed
The document discusses how hydraulic fracturing is portrayed in the media and the influence this has. It analyzes the issue from public relations and media perspectives using an interdisciplinary approach. Key insights include how public relations professionals frame issues regarding fracking but the media can further distort the messages through agenda setting and framing. There is also conflict as both fields use the same theories like framing but implement them differently based on their goals and disciplines. The document proposes finding common ground between the perspectives to help form a collaborative solution.
Unpacking the Social Media Phenomenon: Towards a Research AgendaIan McCarthy
In this paper, we highlight some of the challenges and opportunities that social media presents to researchers, and offer relevant theoretical avenues to be explored. To do this, we present a model that unpacks social media by using a honeycomb of seven functional building blocks. We then examine each of the seven building blocks and, through appropriate social and socio-technical theories, raise questions that warrant further in-depth research to advance the conceptualization of social media in public affairs research. Finally, we combine the individual research questions for each building block back into the honeycomb model to illustrate how the theories in combination provide a powerful macro-lens for research on social media dynamics.
Social Media and Social Media Marketing: A Literature Reviewiosrjce
Social media and social media marketing are sometimes used interchangeably, but two indeed are
different. The purpose of this research paper is to revisit the literature on both concepts and correlates them in
technical terminologies. We have studied the literature available on Social media first and identified the basic
functionalities of it. Then the literature available on social media marketing helped us in identifying its
dimensions. In conclusion section of the research paper we have correlated the two concepts and redefined
social media marketing in technical terms.
The Shifting Paradigm of Public Relations Anita Ho
This document discusses the growth of internet users globally and in Asia from 2000 to 2009. It notes that as of June 2009, there were over 1.6 billion internet users worldwide, with over 700 million in Asia. China has the most internet users of any single country. The document also discusses how new media like social networking and microblogging are used and how this impacts public relations practices.
MEDIA’S INFLUENCE ON THE CONSUMER’S DECISION MAKING1Media’s .docxARIV4
MEDIA’S INFLUENCE ON THE CONSUMER’S DECISION MAKING
1
Media’s Influence on Consumer’s Decision Making
Student Name
Institutional Affiliations
Introduction
Psychology tries to explain and educate about the different roles of the mind and our appeals into making different decisions. The studies in human thinking and how they use different perspectives to make decisions, often defines the essence and means of using different approaches into making people’s perspectives changes from one instance to another. This is a common aspect applied by business organizations in marketing and attracting consumers in the contemporary community. Different businesses use various methods to explain and improve usability of the company’s products and services. The role played by these appeals helps to attract and influence consumers into making different choices and preferences. These local and global companies use different methods to influence, attract and get the attention of their consumers. For instance, in the modern community, the application of communication channels and media outlets have the largest and fastest reach to consumers. Business companies use these communication outlets to improve and communicate to their consumers in the community. It is a responsibility and means of improving communication and sending different information to their consumers. The same applies to how media influences people in the community. The role of media is to offer an outlet for information sharing and dissemination from one person to another. The media takes different forms applied by different personalities, organizations and campaigners in influencing people to either create a certain relation or make an opinion to a given argument. A common usability of media is to influence people and the society at large into either agreeing or disagreeing to given policies in the community. The research will focus on the role of media on how it influences people’s opinions in the contemporary community. This is important and essential in determining the role of media in general and any impacts its influence has in the community in general.
Literature Review
Media can take different forms. These forms form the basis through which media shares its information with the community by laying out objectives for either passing the information for helping the society or against. Sometimes is difficult to understand and ascertain the different objectives of information shared in the media and its many outlets. One the most commonly used media outlets is information shared through digital media. Digital media classification is all the information that is either contained in static matter. The state of using digital based resources such as computers to send and print emails, encode and decode information and above all present different policies and measures essential to retrieve and store while protecting information, radio stations, television sets and gadgets and any other electroni ...
The Effect of Bad News and CEO Apology of Corporate on User Responses in Soci...THE LAB h
by Hoh Kim, Jaram Park, Meeyoung Cha, Jaeseung Jeong
Graduate School of Culture Technology, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), 305–701, Daejeon, Republic of Korea
Published in 2015 @ PLoS ONE 10(5): e0126358. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0126358
The role of the social media in crisis communication has increased in the last couple of years and some organizations have positively mainstreamed social media in crisis communication, but there are some organizations especially in the public sector that are still reluctant to incorporate social media in communication during disasters and instead view social media as a threat to disaster management. Therefore the objective of the study was to examine the role of the social media in crisis communication in public organizations in Kenya with specific reference to Kenya Pipeline Corporation and Mukuru- Sinai Fire Disaster. The specific objectives of the study included the effect of influence of rapid information sharing, reinforcing disaster response strategy and provision of platform for participation and contribution on crisis communication in public organizations in Kenya. The research study used descriptive research design in collecting the data from respondents. The target population was drawn was drawn from Kenya Pipeline Corporation and composed of management, communication staff and crisis management committee all totaling to sixty nine (69) respondents. The research study undertook survey of the total population as a sample. The primary data for the study was collected using the questionnaires and analyzed using descriptive and regression statistics with the aid of Statistical Package for Social Sciences. The study established that there is a significant relationship between rapid information sharing, reinforcing disaster response strategy and provision of platform for participation and contribution on crisis communication in public organizations
Unpacking the social media phenomenon: towards a research agendaAndrey Markin
You can access PDF here http://busandadmin.uwinnipeg.ca/silvestrepdfs/PDF04.pdf
In this paper, we highlight some of the challenges and opportunities that social media presents to researchers, and
offer relevant theoretical avenues to be explored. To do this, we present a model that unpacks social media by using
a honeycomb of seven functional building blocks. We then examine each of the seven building blocks and, through
appropriate social and socio-technical theories, raise questions that warrant further in-depth research to advance
the conceptualization of social media in public affairs research. Finally, we combine the individual research questions
for each building block back into the honeycomb model to illustrate how the theories in combination provide a
powerful macro-lens for research on social media dynamics
Managing the Social Media Tsunami: Nestlé’s Reputational Crisis Management Ba...Leo Concepcion
This document discusses Nestlé's reputational crisis management battle with Greenpeace regarding accusations of using palm oil suppliers that caused deforestation. It provides context on how social media amplified Greenpeace's campaign against Nestlé's KitKat brand. The literature review covers concepts of reputation management, crisis communication, and challenges of managing crises in the social media era where information spreads rapidly and communities can aggressively voice opinions online. Effective crisis response requires prioritizing relationship building, maintaining transparency, and adapting traditional practices for social media while addressing misinformation risks.
Evaluating Platforms for Community Sensemaking: Using the Case of the Kenyan ...COMRADES project
This document describes a study that evaluated how platforms can support community sensemaking during disruptive events. The researchers conducted a scenario-based evaluation using data from Kenya's 2017 elections. Twelve students participated in the evaluation. They were given the task of mapping reports of voting incidents and irregularities from Kenya's Uchaguzi platform to assess the validity of the elections and support security forces. The goal was to examine how such a platform could aid non-mandated responders' situational understanding. Data was collected on the participants' sensemaking process to identify requirements for resilience platforms and inform future research.
This document summarizes a study that explored the use of Twitter among Korean boy band fan club members in Thailand. The study used a survey of 68 fans to examine how their Twitter usage and behaviors may change based on the number of followers they have. The study found that having more followers can create pressure to post certain types of content and restrict expressing opinions. It also found that Twitter is used for social interactions, information sharing, and expressing opinions, which aligns with Uses and Gratification theory about motivations for using different media.
In this paper, we highlight some of the challenges and opportunities that social media presents to researchers, and offer relevant theoretical avenues to be explored. To do this, we present a model that unpacks social media by using a honeycomb of seven functional building blocks. We then examine each of the seven building blocks and, through appropriate social and socio-technical theories, raise questions that warrant further in-depth research to advance the conceptualization of social media in public affairs research. Finally, we combine the individual research questions for each building block back into the honeycomb model to illustrate how the theories in combination provide a powerful macro-lens for research on social media dynamics.
This document provides an abstract for a thesis that explores how non-profit organizations use and misuse social media. The thesis analyzes how well social media allows non-profits to effectively communicate with supporters using concepts of framing and public spheres. It finds that while social media provides efficiency, most non-profits struggle to maintain multiple social media sites and keep content relevant due to limited resources. The document includes an introduction outlining the purpose and scope of the study, as well as chapters on literature review and methodology.
A Framework to Identify Best Practices: Social Media and Web 2.0 Technologies...Connie White
Social media is used in a variety of domains, including emergency management. However, the question of which technologies are most appropriate for a given emergency remains open. We present a framework of dimensions of emergencies that can assist in selecting appropriate social media for an emergency situation. Social media is not a panacea but can be used effectively given the proper functions available from the particular services provided by each of the Web 2.0 technologies available. The main objective of this paper is to identify the best practices for social media to leverage its ability given the complexities that coincide with events. This is a conceptual paper based on the results of preliminary studies involving group interactions with emergency professionals with various backgrounds. In addition, emergency management students who are professionals in the field followed by another interview soliciting information from information systems scientist were surveyed. We found that each situation called forth various dimensions where only sub phases of the stated dimension may be used given the task type derived from the event characteristics. This lays a foundation upon which a more formal approach can be taken to help tame the social media mania into a manageable set of ‘best practices’ from which emergencies can be managed more effectively given Web 2.0 technologies and social collaborative online tools.
This document presents research on classifying tweets from crisis datasets into informative vs non-informative categories and humanitarian categories using multimodal approaches. The researchers analyzed text and image data from crisis datasets using models like BERT and CNNs. They then proposed a technique to fuse text and image features to classify tweets. Their multimodal fusion approach outperformed text-only and image-only baselines, demonstrating the benefit of combining modalities for crisis response assessment from social media data.
2Running Head THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR.docxrhetttrevannion
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Running Head: THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR
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THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR
THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR
Name
Institution Affiliations
Abstract
Social media include blogs, microblogs and even electronic social networks. They are generally believed to have transformed the manner in which individuals relate with each other. This applied research assessment which therefore explore on the influence of social media in the public sector. Within the public sector, there are prevalent evidences which justify the impact of the social media in the public sector. There have been numerous cases in which individuals have a norm to communications within the noticeable one-way fashion for several decades. This applied research will explore various aspects on how social media has influenced the public sector. Besides, it will navigate how social media has entirely contributed to the growth of the public sector both in negative and positive effects. This will include the review of the literature of what other researchers have done on the topic. Comment by Tiffany H: This applied research assessment explores the influence of social media in the public sector. Comment by Tiffany H: And will navigate through how social media Comment by Tiffany H: Should this start with besides?
Table of Contents
· Problem or Issue Statement.
· Introduction.
· Review of Literature.
· Research Methodology.
· Findings.
· Analysis.
· Recommendations.
· References.
Problem or Issue Statement
Government agencies have gradually but progressively adopted social technologies to execute their tasks better. Such social technologies can accumulatively reengineer the old model of the public sector. This is due to the fact they facilitate substantial chances to accelerating the transparency as well as prevalence within the government agencies and its departments. It besides can increase the trustworthy in government from its respective citizens. Through social media, there can be creation of new forms of participation of citizens as well as the engagement in public issues. Besides, social media has enhanced both intra-organizational and inter-organizational collaboration. There is therefore an essential need to look into various ways that the social media have really enhanced an achievement of such empirical formalities within the government structure hence developing the citizen-government relationship. Comment by Tiffany H: Accelerate the transparency of what? Comment by Tiffany H: Remove Comment by Tiffany H: has
From a contextual perspective, it is evident to state that the relationship and collaboration between the government and the citizen have been greatly altered, advanced by the use of social media. In addition, this has heightened the participation of the citizens in most of the government projects which have been overseen and controlled by the government offices. The .
This chapter introduces two approaches to studying mass communication - the functional approach and the critical/cultural approach. The functional approach examines how media fulfill needs for both society and individuals, such as providing news, interpretation, social connections, entertainment and more. The critical/cultural approach views media through social and political lenses, analyzing how media content reflects and perpetuates dominant ideologies and power structures. Both approaches have value in analyzing the mass communication process, though they employ different methods and focus on different aspects.
Similar to Informing_crisiscommunication_preparation_and_response_through_network_analysis - Submisison AEJ (20)
1. Informing crisis communication preparation and response through network analysis:
An elaboration of the Social-Mediated Crisis Communication model
Abstract
To test and elaborate as necessary the Social-Mediated Crisis Communication (SMCC)
model’s key publics classifications (Liu et al., 2012) and to provide practical insight to public
identification for crisis communication planning and response, this study uses network analysis
to identify social mediators (Himelboim et al., 2014) and clustered publics in airline Twitter
networks. In our analysis, social mediators and network clusters are classified according to the
publics taxonomy of the SMCC model. The characteristics of the social mediators and the
network structure of the clusters are also identified in airline Twitter networks. Our findings
suggest further elaborations and more in-depth identification of key publics in social-mediated
crisis communication.
Keywords: Social-Mediated Crisis Communication model, Crisis Communication, Social
Network Analysis, Twitter, Social Media, Social Mediators.
2. Informing crisis communication 2
Informing crisis communication preparation and response through network analysis:
An elaboration of the Social-Mediated Crisis Communication model
Introduction
The development of social media has made crisis communication more complicated
(Coombs, 2012). Liu, Jin, Briones and Kuch (2012) argued that the first step in managing a
blog-mediated crisis is to identify bloggers who are influential with key publics (p. 357). Jin and
Liu (2010) developed a matrix as a means to predict which blogs would be most influential in a
crisis. Cho and Cameron (2006) noted “the importance of Internet community and Netizens as
organized and influential publics” (p. 199) and suggested that Internet communities be
considered as an additional external public in public relations theory building.
While blogs and their relationship to crisis communication has been examined by several
scholars, Liu et al. (2012) found that public relations practitioners believed Twitter and Facebook
were more useful crisis communication tools than were blogs (p. 366). In response to their
findings, they proposed the Social-Mediated Crisis Communication model, which identifies the
flow of crisis information online and offline, created, shared, followed, and consumed by
influential publics, and how it interacts and influences an organization’s crisis management
strategies and responses to those publics in varied forms and sources, according to different crisis
types. To date, the SMCC model has been tested through interviews and experiments in both
organizational crisis and disaster situations to explore how SMCC components such as crisis
origin (e.g., emanating from the organization or from an outside entity), crisis information form
(i.e., traditional media, social/new media, or word of mouth), and crisis information source (i.e.,
3. Informing crisis communication 3
organization or a third party) affect publics’ cognitive, affective and behavioral responses to
crisis or disaster information, their information seeking and sharing patterns, as well as their
behavioral tendencies such as acceptance of crisis response strategies (Austin, Liu, & Jin, 2012;
Liu, Austin, & Jin, 2011; Liu, Jin, & Austin, 2013; Jin, Liu, & Austin, 2014; Jin, Liu,
Anagondahalli, & Austin, 2013) and their likelihood of following proactive action instructions
(Liu, Fraustino, & Jin, 2015a, 2015b).
One important component of the SMCC model is yet to be fully developed conceptually
and tested empirically: key publics in social-mediated crisis communication. So far, three key
publics, who seek, produce, or share information before, during, and after crises, have been
identified in the SMCC model (Liu et al., 2012; Jin, Liu, & Austin, 2014): 1) Influential social
media creators who develop and post crisis information online; 2) Social media followers who
consume this information from social media creators and also share this information both on and
offline; and 3) Social media inactives who do not participate actively in the social media, but
receive this crisis information via other channels—including traditional media and word-of
mouth communication—from social media followers, creators, or other inactives.
One challenge of testing the SMCC key publics classifications lies in measurement.
Given the tenet of the model itself, which is the crisis information flow based upon the influence
exerted by the interconnected publics, the fuller picture and further operationalization of these
SMCC key publics need to be not only examined at the individual public level but also at the
relationship level (i.e. organization-public relationship and how one public is in relations with
other publics). This concern echoes Ledingham’s (2006) argument that “The central unit of
measures of public relations success is the organization-public relationship” (p. 475), when
discussing relationship management as a general theory of public relations.
4. Informing crisis communication 4
Himelboim, Golan, Moon and Suto (2014) employed the relationships identified by
Twitter exchanges to identify “social mediators”. They defined social mediators as “the entities
which mediate the relations between an organization and its publics through social media”
(Himelboim et al., 2014, p. 367). These scholars also identified clusters that are formed by
subgroups of users who engage with one another more than with others. Social mediators bridge
an organization with clusters of users, or publics, that are not directly engaged with the
organization. Therefore, to test and elaborate as necessary SMCC’s key publics classifications
and to provide practical insight to public identification for crisis communication planning and
response, this study uses network analysis to identify social mediators (Himelboim et al., 2014)
and clusters in airline Twitter networks. By its nature, the airline industry is crisis prone. The
industry is also known to be effective in using social media to monitor and respond to consumer
comments (Authors, in press). The combination of these characteristics makes the airline
industry a perfect candidate for employing network analysis to test and elaborate the Social-
Mediated Crisis Communication (SMCC) model. In our analysis, social mediators and network
clusters are classified according to the publics taxonomy of the SMCC model (Liu et al., 2012).
Our findings suggest further elaborations and more in-depth identification of influential publics
in social-mediated crisis communication.
Literature Review
Publics in Crisis Communication
Publics are a “group of people who face a common issue” (Gonzelez-Herrero & Pratt,
1996, p. 84). In discussing publics and issues as core concepts in public relations, Botan and
Taylor (2004) argued that a public’s interest can be objective or subjective. The interpretations of
events and actions are shared by publics as a result of “a continuing process of agreeing on an
5. Informing crisis communication 5
interpretation because whether a group of people understands that it shares an interest at a
particular time determines whether a public exists” (p. 655). When a public attaches importance
to a certain matter, an issue occurs. The public’s interpretation of events and actions in their
environment then lead to an issue they want to address. This applies to crises issues as well.
Ulmer, Sellnow and Seeger (2007) referred to publics as stakeholders. Benoit and Pang
(2008) referred to publics as audiences. Ulmer, Sellnow and Seeger (2007) argued that primary
publics are groups of people identified by organizations as “most important to their success” (p.
37) while secondary stakeholders “do not play an active role in the day-to-day activities” (p. 37)
of the organization. Fearn-Banks (2001) used the publics and stakeholders interchangeably. In
discussing publics in crisis communication, Jin, Pang and Cameron (2012) adopted the approach
of interchangeable definition and further proposed three characteristics the key publics in crises
comprise (p. 270): 1) They are most affected by the crisis; 2) They have shared common
interests, and destiny, in seeing the crisis resolved; and 3) They have long-term interests, and
influences, on the organization’s reputation and operation.
As Benoit and Pang (2008) argued, the identification of key publics is important because
different audiences have “diverse interests, concerns, and goals” (p. 247). The task of key
publics identification becomes even more critical and complex in social-mediated crisis
communication. During crises, publics turn to social media for a wide variety of information and
support (Macias, Hilyard, & Freimuth, 2009; Stephens & Malone, 2009). Social media play a
role in both the causes and spread of crises, as the choice of channel and the consumption of
social-mediated crisis content can strongly impact publics’ perceptions of organizational
reputation (e.g., Schultz, Utz, & Göritz, 2011; Wigley & Fontenot, 2010). Social media can also
6. Informing crisis communication 6
facilitate crisis information sharing, opinion sharing, and emotional expression in times of crises
(Macias, Hilyard, & Freimuth, 2009; Smith, 2010).
The Social-Mediated Crisis Communication (SMCC) Model and Key Publics
To explain how social media, traditional media, and word-of-mouth communication
interact in terms of crisis information and to what extent those crisis messages influence crisis
preparedness, response and recovery, the SMCC model (see Figure 1) emerged as the first
theoretical model to address the need for empirical model development and testing specific to
understanding crisis communication in the landscape of social media (Jin & Liu, 2010 Jin, Liu,
& Austin, 2014; Liu et al., 2012). Key factors of crisis communication in the complex media
landscape include characteristics of crises, organizations, publics, and communications such as
information form and content. The SMCC model argues that social media should be in the
media mix for crisis communication and issues management (Liu et al., 2012). It describes the
relationship between an organization, key publics, social media, traditional media, and offline
word-of-mouth communication before, during, and after crises.
Key SMCC publics and information flow. The SMCC model identifies three key publics
who seek, produce, or share information before, during, and after crises: influential social media
creators, social media followers, and social media inactives (Jin, Liu, & Austin, 2014).
Specifically, influential social media creators develop and post crisis information online. Social
media followers consume crisis information from social media creators and also share this
information both on and offline. Social media inactives do not participate actively in the social
media, but receive this crisis information via other channels from social media followers,
creators, or other inactives.
7. Informing crisis communication 7
As represented in Figure 1, solid arrows represent direct relationships in the flow of crisis
information, created or shared by direct publics, while dotted arrows represent indirect
relationships in the flow of crisis information, again, created or shared by indirect publics. These
arrows, whether referring to direct or indirect relationships in the crisis information flow, also
indicate a two-way, reciprocal flow of information. The SMCC highlights three main channels
of crisis communication, including social media, traditional media, and offline word-of-mouth
communication. The organization responding to an issue (in pre-crisis) or active crisis and the
key publics are situated surrounding the organization to represent the ubiquitous nature of online
and offline word-of-mouth communication among the organization and social media creators,
followers, and inactives, in a given issue or crisis situation. Therefore, social media, carrying
issue or crisis information from influential social media creators or the organization, has a direct
relationship with key publics, the organization, and traditional media, while traditional media has
a direct relationship with social media, key publics, and the organization.
A Social Network Approach to the Social-Mediated Crisis Communication model
The SMCC model, as discussed earlier, defines three types of publics: Influential social
media creators, who develop and post crisis information online, social media followers, who
consume and share information from social media creators, and social media inactives, who do
not participate actively. Approaching Twitter activity as a social network, two types of actors are
conceptualized: Influential social media creators and social media followers. The last public,
social media inactives, cannot be examined within data created by active social media users.
A social network is created when connections (“links”) are created among social actors
(“nodes”), such as individuals and organizations (Wasserman & Faust, 1994). Social media
platforms allow users to form connections among themselves in the process of sharing content.
8. Informing crisis communication 8
Research on social media from a social network perspective shifts the focus from individual
traits to relational ties between social entities. Collections of these ties or connections aggregate
into emergent patterns or network structures. On Twitter, social networks are composed of users
and the connections they form with other users when they mention and reply to one another
(Hansen, Shneiderman, & Smith, 2011).
Given the opportunity to interact freely, social actors create sub-groups in which
interconnections are more prevalent than connections with others outside that sub-group
(Granovetter, 1973; Watts & Strogatz, 1998). Such sub-groups can also be seen as community
structures within networks (Newman, 2004). A cluster is a sub-group of individuals who are
tightly interconnected, and rather disconnected from users outside their cluster. Clusters on
Twitter are composed of dense sub-groups of interconnected Twitter users that provide the
channels through which users are exposed to tweets. A user’s Twitter cluster determines the
tweets to which that user is exposed. For example, users may talk about an organization, topic or
a product. The sources of information may be within their cluster. Users are likely to either be
exposed directly (by mentioning them, for instance) or indirectly, via their cluster-mates who
may re-tweet messages. A cluster on Twitter, then, determines users’ and organizations’
immediate networks.
These clusters, however, are not completely disconnected from one another, but have
limited connectivity. Key users are located in the network in a position that allows them to
bridge clusters. One of the earliest references to these key users can be found in Milgram’s
(1967) work. Milgram found that regardless of the size of a social network, human society is
composed of small clusters of tightly interconnected individuals, who are connected by a few
individuals strategically located in the larger network. Burt’s (1992, 2001) theory of structural
9. Informing crisis communication 9
holes identified individuals and organizations in unique positions in a network, where they
connect other actors that otherwise would be much less connected, if at all. Bridges enjoy
strategic benefits, such as control, access to novel information, and resource brokerage (Burt,
1992, 2001). Himelboim, Golan, Moon and Suto (2014) coined the concept “social mediators”
to describe Twitter users that are both highly connected within their cluster and bridge clusters.
They illustrated the role such users play in the flow of information from an organization (the
U.S. State Department, in their study) to clusters of users (i.e., clusters) that they cannot reach
directly.
Defining SMCC Key Publics in Social Network Analysis
Given the direct and indirect relationships social media have with the key publics
according to different flows of crisis information and based on the definition of social mediators
and clusters from social network analysis’ perspective, in this study, we further elaborate and
operationalize SMCC key publics in the terms of social network analysis for consistency and
congruence across concepts and measures. Since social media inactives cannot be examined via
social network analysis, which applies only to data created by active social media users, we only
focus on key social media creators and social media followers in this study.
Social mediators are influential social media creators. Social mediators will be used,
from a social network analysis perspective, to indicate key social media creators in the SMCC
model. These influential social media users play a key role in creating and passing along
information and are contextualized here as social mediators, earlier discussed by Himelboim et
al. (2014). Social mediators are located in a key position in their network. Their content receives
more attention and is shared more than other users in their cluster. They also bridge an
organization with users who are not in its cluster, and therefore cannot be reached directly. In
10. Informing crisis communication
10
the context of organizational relationships with stakeholders, social mediators play a key role in
connecting an organization’s official social media platforms, such as its Twitter account, with
users that it cannot reach directly. Examining a Twitter conversation as a social network, social
mediators can be identified as they connect organizations with their indirect social media
followers.
Clusters are social media followers. Clusters will be used, from a social network
analysis perspective, to indicate social media followers proposed in the SMCC model. Social
media users who interact with one another, share key information sources and are rather
disconnected from others, form their own public. While the original SMCC definition focuses
on followers, the operationalization of it as “clusters” suggests expanding the definition of
connections among social media users to relationships that indicate actual attention giving and
information sharing, namely mentions, retweets and replies on Twitter. Conceptualizing these
SMCC publics (active social media users who are not social mediators) as clusters opens the
opportunity to refine our understanding of social media followers.
The network structure of these clusters (i.e., the patterns of connections) informs us about
the nature of information flow among members of a public. Three structures are relevant here:
1) level of interconnectedness (density; Scott, 2012); 2) formation of a hub-and-spoke structure
(Park & Thelwall, 2008); and 3) level of mutuality of relationships (reciprocity; Wasserman &
Faust, 1994). Highly interconnected clusters suggest that members of a public rely on one
another for sharing information, as they are more interconnected by relationships of mentions,
retweets and replies. A low density suggests that either the users are sparsely interconnected or
that they rely on single or very few dominant users. A hub-and-spoke structure (Park &
Thelwall, 2008) is when users in a cluster are connected to a single highly connected user while
11. Informing crisis communication
11
remaining disconnected from one another. This structure reflects a public that receives its
information from a single source, may or may not communicate back with that source.
Regardless, social media users in this public hardly exchange information with one another.
Mutuality of relationships, or reciprocity, in a cluster indicates the direction of information flow.
Low reciprocity indicates one-way flow of information, from some users to others. Higher levels
of reciprocity indicates an exchange of information among users (Wasserman & Faust, 1994).
In sum, conceptualizing social media followers as clusters can further refine the SMCC
key publics classifications. A cluster that includes an organization’s social media platform such
as its Twitter account are direct social media followers. Such a cluster is composed of social
users who interact directly with the organization, providing direct access to these users. Other
clusters are composed of social media users who talk about the organization or an issue relevant
to it, but do not include the organizational account. Such publics are therefore indirect social
media followers. Both types of clusters will be further examined in this study.
Research Questions
This study takes a social networks approach to refine the conceptualization of two Social-
Mediated Crisis Communication model publics: influential social media creators and social
media followers. To examine these publics in light of the SMCC model and the social networks
approach, a case study of the Twitter conversations surrounding several U.S.-based airlines is
used.
Influential social media creators, conceptualized here as social mediators (Himelboim et
al., 2015), bridge an organization and publics it cannot reach directly. This bridging role has
been traditionally reserved for news media, but now can be assumed by any user who is located
in a strategic location in the network. These bridges are particularly important in crisis
12. Informing crisis communication
12
communication when quick and broad dissemination of information is paramount. The nature of
these social mediators is the core of the first two research questions:
RQ1: What are the industry-wide social mediators characteristics?
RQ2: How, if at all, do the social mediators differ between airlines?
Social media followers are conceptualized as social networks clusters. The structure of a
cluster serves as an indicator of key aspects of information flow, share and exchange among
users. The third research question is therefore:
RQ3: How do clusters differ in terms of their network structures?
Methods
This study takes a social networks approach to studying the Twitter talk about 11 key
U.S.-based airlines: Alaska, American Airline, Delta, Frontier, Hawaiian, JetBlue, Spirit, Sun
Country, United, US Airways and Virgin America. It applies network analysis, the analysis of
patterns of interactions among social actors, to identifying key social actors and publics. As
previously noted, airlines were selected as the industry of interest because of their frequent need
for crisis communication and their relatively well-developed social media platforms.
Data
Twitter usernames, user statistics (e.g., profile description and URL), and mention and
reply-to relationships were collected about users who participated in the conversations about
these 11 airlines. Data was collected for each airline every Tuesday for 4 weeks, from 1/20/2015
to 2/10/2015. Each search query resulted in about a week of data. Twitter Application
Programming Interface (API) determines the amount of content that can be downloaded per
search query. For each airline, the search query included the airline’s main Twitter handle (e.g.,
13. Informing crisis communication
13
@AmericanAir) and its main hashtag (e.g., #AmericanAir). For purposes of standardization,
only the main handles and hashtags were used, as not all airlines used secondary or other
affiliated accounts (e.g., @DeltaAssist). We collected data using NodeXL’s Twitter Search
importer (Hansen, Shneiderman & Smith, 2011), which identifies Twitter users who included the
hashtag and handles in their posted content. A total of 43 datasets were retrieved (for technical
reasons, one American Airlines dataset was corrupted and could not be used). A total of 185,046
users and 503,316 messages were collected; 269,740 tweets established unique relationships of
mentions and replies among users.
Measurements
Network analysis. The clusters in the topic-networks were identified using the Clauset-
Newman-Moore algorithm (Clauset, Newman & Moore, 2004). This algorithm, as many others,
typically results in a few large clusters and many very small ones. In order to identify the largest
clusters in each dataset, we used a scree plot method to determine the threshold between low and
high values. This approach, which originated as a method to identify key components in factor
analysis, has been successfully used to categorize values as low/high, when the distribution is
highly skewed (e.g., HImelboim, Gleave & Smith, 2009). A total of 213 major clusters were
identified across the 43 datasets.
As a public was defined earlier as a cluster (i.e., a group of interconnected users), the unit
of analysis for the structural measurements here is a network cluster. The Density of each cluster
was calculated as the number of existing relationships (mentions or replies) among Twitter users
within a given cluster divided by the total number of possible relationships among those same
users. Average geodesic distance is measured by calculating the shortest paths between all pairs
of users in a given cluster and then calculating the average value. Reciprocity is calculated as the
14. Informing crisis communication
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portion of reciprocal relationships (e.g., user A mentioned user B, and user B mentioned user A)
of all existing relationships in a given cluster. NodeXL was used to calculate these structural
metrics.
Identifying social mediators. Each topic-network consists of nodes and directed
relationships (e.g., mentions and replies). We propose here to operationalize Twitter social
mediators as users who are at the top 3.5% in the entire network in terms betweenness centrality
values and the top 1% in terms of in-degree centrality within each cluster for that user. This
operationalization gives priority to betweenness centrality as the key aspect of mediating in
bridging across clusters, while taking into consideration which of these users gained most
attention (in-degree) within their own clusters. Betweenness centrality measures the extent that
the actor falls on the shortest path between other pairs of actors in the network. The more people
depend on an actor to make connections with other people, the higher that actor’s betweenness
centrality value becomes. This value is therefore associated with bridging actors in a network,
and therefore clusters. However, betweenness centrality measures do not take into consideration
the direction of relationships. As director of information flow from an organization to audiences
in a social network, a social mediator should not only connect, but also attract large audiences.
The second aspect of the operationalization of social mediators should therefore be high in-
degree centrality. In-degree centrality is measured as the number of followers a user has among
the other members of the specific topic-network. Hi in-degree Twitter accounts for a significant
amount of information flow through the Twitter networks due to the expected severe skew on
distribution of Twitter followers (Raban & Rabin, 2007). Using this method, a total of 305 social
mediators were identified.
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Classification of social mediators. We classified Twitter users into types of social
actors. We iteratively developed a classification system based on preliminary analysis of all users
in a single day of data collection (11 datasets on 1/20/2015). We identified five types of social
actors: (1) the airline itself (e.g., @delta) or users affiliated with it (@deltaassist), (2) other
airlines (e.g., @suncountryAir in a dataset about @delta and #delta), (3) Media organizations
(e.g., @cnnnews), (4) Celebrities (e.g., @keeganallen), and (5) grassroots, which include
individuals or small advocacy groups not affiliated with a larger institution or organization. We
coded as (6) Other, Twitter accounts of airports, sports teams, and other types of organizations
not included in the classification above. Intercoder reliability was sufficient (Cohen’s Kappa =
0.924).
Other measurements. Size of an airline was calculated based on its number of
passengers in 2014 according to the United States Department of Transportation (Virgin
America’s data was not available on the website and was retrieved from the company’s website).
The distribution of number of passengers across airlines was not normal, with clear high and low
values, and therefore the median (33,894 passengers monthly) rather than the mean (18,992
passengers) was used to define the threshold between large (Delta, American Airlines, United,
US Airways, and JetBlue) and small airlines (Alaska Airlines, Spirit, Frontier, Hawaiian
Airlines, Virgin America, and Sun Country). It should be noted that only JetBlue was affected by
the selection of median rather than mean as a threshold.
Findings
Network analysis was applied to 43 datasets of 4 weeks of airline-related activity,
185,046 users and 269,740 unique relationships of mentions and replies among users. 303 social
mediators were identified, of which 21 were unrelated to the airline conversation (there were a
16. Informing crisis communication
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few occasions where #united captured the Manchester United sports team tweets, although the
team’s handle is @ManUtd and its hashtag is #mufc). The unrelated players were removed,
leading to total of 282 social mediators.
RQ1: What are the industry-wide social mediators characteristics?
Examining the activity created by users mentioning and hashtagging top U.S. airlines’
Twitter, four types of social mediators emerged. Each accounts for about a fifth of the all
mediators (N=282): individuals and grassroots organizations (n=63; 22.34%); accounts and
affiliated accounts of the airline of conversation (e.g., @deltaassist in the dataset about @Delta
and #Delta; n=59; 20.92%); accounts and affiliated accounts of an airline, not the topic of
conversation (e.g, @united in the dataset about @Delta and #Delta; n=59; 20.92%); and
celebrities (n=53; 18.79%). News media captured only 8.16% of social mediators (n=23). Other
mediators (n=25; 8.87%) included Twitter accounts of airports, for and not-for-profit
organizations, and sports teams affiliated with the airlines. See Figure 2.
-------- Figure 2 about here --------
RQ2: How, if at all, do the social mediators differ between airlines?
Types of social mediators varied across airlines. A closer examination of the data shows
that the portion of social mediators affiliated with an airline, was significantly (F=12.03, p<.01)
higher in the smaller airlines in terms of number of passengers (M=.51; SD=.28) than in the
larger airlines (M=.13; SD=.05). In contrast, other types of users made a larger portion of social
mediators in the larger airlines than in the smaller ones. Differences were significant for
individuals and grassroots (F=18.34; p<.01) and news media (F=16.40; p<.01). Significance
values reported here are a result of a single ANOVA test (for the entire model: F=18.34; p<.01;
17. Informing crisis communication
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Adjusted R2
=.63). See Figure 3. For examination of social mediators’ type by airline, see Figure
4.
-------- Figures 3 and 4 about here --------
RQ3: How do clusters differ in terms of their network structures?
Findings suggest that direct and indirect publics exhibited different network structures.
An ANOVA test was applied to examine the relationship between direct/indirect publics and the
three network structures. Cluster density was found to be significantly (F=19.87; p<.001) higher
in indirect public clusters (M=.0027; SD=.0032) than in direct public clusters (M=.0112,
SD=.0125). Average geodesic distance was found to be significantly (F=48.88, p<.01) lower in
direct public clusters (M=2.010, SD=.043) than in indirect public clusters (M=2.949, SD=.868).
The value of 2 for the average geodesic distance (together with a very low SD) is a key
characteristic of networks where a single key user connects most or all others (a spoke-and-hub
structure). As any two users are connected via a central user, the average geodesic distance
(AGD) for each pair of users is equal to 2. Findings therefore suggest that direct publics are star-
shaped, where the organization account is the focal point that connects all users (Watts, 2014). In
fact, examining specific social mediators types by the average AGD value of all clusters is higher
than 2 (other airline: M=3.56, SD=.72; grassroots: M=2.62; SD=.80; news media: M=2.83;
SD=.1.01), except for celebrity mediators (M=2.19; SD=.45). Last, the relationship between
cluster reciprocity and direct/indirect clusters approached significance (p=.052). Direct publics
cluster exhibited a lower reciprocity level (M=.0189, SD=.0083) than indirect public clusters
(M=.0293; SD=.0339). See Figure 1 for illustration of cluster structures.
Figure 5 illustrates social mediators, social media clusters, and the variety of network
structures clusters may take, using the Twitter activity surrounding American Airlines
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(@americanair, #americanair). In Figure 5, circles represent users and the connecting lines are
mentions and replies. Clusters are the sub-groups of interconnected users that, as illustrated, are
interconnected more among one another than with users in other clusters. The airlines and social
mediators are identified by their accounts’ logos (if easily recognized) or by name. The airline
cluster (its directed public; top left) has the airline for which data was collected, and the most
interconnected user in that cluster (here: American Airlines). Other key users emerged in this
directed public cluster, such as other accounts associated with @dr_capt_ron (self-described as
“Professor of Athletic Training … and Boat Captain”), @aaroncarpenter (a 15 years old avid
social media user) and the Fox 4 news channel form North Texas. Another cluster, such as the
“other airlines” cluster (top-center) include accounts of other airlines (such as, Delta and US
Airways) that participate in the conversation about American Airlines on Twitter. The cluster at
the center of the graph is around the user @paperwash, a popular Twitter user who is known for
their funny tweets. On the top-right we can find the @dloesch mediators (Dana Loesch), a talk
radio host. These clusters are different in terms of the social mediators who bridge the airline
with its indirect publics. These clusters are also different in terms of their structure. The Airline
cluster (American Airlines) has a hub-and-spoke like structure, where most users do not engage
with one another. This is also the case for the @paperwash and @dloesch clusters. The Airlines
cluster (top-center) as well as the cluster with Boing and Texas Airport as social mediators
(bottom-left), are much more interconnected.
-------- Figure 5 abut here --------
Discussion
By employing a network analysis method to examine airline-related tweets this study
teases out details about key publics. These details contribute to theory through elaboration of the
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SMCC model. They contribute to practice through identification and parsing of public types
prior to an organizational crisis. A summary of findings and analysis follows.
The SMCC model identifies three types of key publics, two of which were examined in
this study. Findings provide evidence that those two publics can be elaborated. Influential social
media creators (operationalized in this study as social mediators) were teased out of the Twitter
networks of these airlines. They were almost equally individuals and grassroots, the airline
itself, other airlines, and celebrities. Trailing was the news media as a social mediator. This
finding reinforces the notion that communication channels during crises must reach well beyond
traditional sources of news distribution. By identifying the social mediators in their network,
organizations can more efficiently and rapidly distribute important information.
Not only is it imperative for crisis communicators to know their social mediators, it is
also relevant for them to know their social media clusters (i.e., publics). The findings in this
study suggest that direct and indirect social media publics are, indeed, different animals. We
found a different structure between direct and indirect clusters. Direct publics’ clusters were
star-shaped in their presentations meaning that the organizational Twitter account is the focal
point linking all users in direct c public clusters, back to the organization. Direct and indirect
public clusters differ in specific ways. Indirect clusters are denser than direct clusters suggesting
a broader reach of direct users clusters. Direct clusters’ Average Geodesic Distance averaged the
value of two, suggesting that direct public clusters are developed around a single Twitter user
(Watts, 2014).
Beyond the effect of the type of Twitter cluster publics, the type of organization (i.e.,
size of airline) is linked to differences in social mediators and cluster publics. Small airlines’
networks are dominated by the organization’s own Twitter account. For example, Spirit and
20. Informing crisis communication
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Frontier airlines, both identified as “small” by the parameters of this study, showed that all or
nearly all their social mediators were the organization’s own Twitter feed. Large airlines showed
more balance and diversity of social mediators.
Based on the study’s findings there are several theoretical implications for SMCC. First,
social mediators (or influential social media creators) are not an amorphous whole. In fact, they
are identifiable and distinct. We propose refining the influential social media creators category
in SMCC to reflect these distinctions. New categorization for influential social media creators
should be: 1) individual and grassroots social media creators, 2) organizational social media
creators, 3) industry social media creators, 4) celebrity social media creators and 5) journalist
social media creators.
Second, as with the definition of influential social media creators in SMCC, the definition
of social media followers was found to be more specific. These findings should also be reflected
in a revised SMCC as direct and indirect social media followers. Third, organization differences
within an industry also appear to affect Twitter networks. Therefore we propose size be added to
the SMCC model as an organizational variable.
Beyond the theoretical implications for the SMCC model are some practical implications
for crisis communicators. First, network analysis provides a methodological way in which to
identify key, perhaps unanticipated, social mediators between an organization and its publics.
Crisis communication plans generally include lists of publics to contact when a crisis strikes. As
this research showed, news media are increasingly irrelevant in quick, crisis communication,
especially via social media like Twitter. Knowing who are the influencers within your
organization’s Twitter network before a crisis strikes, will allow those thought leaders to be part
of your crisis communication plan. While we have identified the major social mediator
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categories for U.S.-based airlines and believe those categories will carry to other industries, we
acknowledge that there may be additional categories depending on the industry. Network
analysis of a Twitter feed in a non-crisis environment of other industries will identify those
categories.
Second, the evidence shows that social mediators and direct and indirect social media
followers play a communication role for organizations via Twitter. This reinforces the dictum to
build communication relationships before you need them (i.e., when a crisis hits). While the
airline industry has a relatively robust social media presence, no matter the industry or
organization it is advisable to consistently and proactively build social media networks via
Twitter and other social media.
Limitations and Future Directions
As with any study, this project had limitations. Because the analysis was limited to the
airline industry in the U.S. it may not be generalizable to airlines worldwide or to other
industries. However, as noted in the discussion, we do feel the social mediator categories are
sufficiently broad so as to be applicable for organizations beyond airlines. Nevertheless,
network analysis of another industry might yield yet additional social mediator classifications.
A second limitation is that without content analysis we do not know the valence of the
communication. That is, we do not know whether the identified social mediators are positive or
negative influencers. This is important and the topic for a future study.
Beyond content analysis to determine tweet valence, this method should be employed in
other crisis prone industries such as energy or food service.
22. Informing crisis communication
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Figure 1: Social-Mediated Crisis Communication Model (Jin, Liu, & Austin, 2014)
Figure 2: Type of social mediators across airlines
Social Media
Followers
Social Media
Inactives
Influential
Social Media
Creators
Traditional Media
Social Media
Organization
Crisis Origin•
Crisis Type•
Infrastructure•
Message Strategy•
Message Form•
Social-mediated Crisis Communication Model
Indirect Relationship
Direct Relationship
Organization
Public
Media Content
Offline Word-of-Mouth
Communication