1. technology and computing
2. internet technology
3. social network

When a Crisis happens, who turns to Facebook and
why?
Gwyneth V.J. Howell
The University of Western Sydney
Mel Taylor
The University of Western Sydney
Abstract
Social Media is pervasive, and today it is transforming how individuals communicate with each other
and also how people now discover and share information. Regardless of genre, social media, today
equate to a powerful, influential, and revolutionary model for exposing and diffusing public opinion.
The Web and social media sites in particular, are an increasingly important component of crisis and
emergency communication. For crisis communication practitioners to act effectively on behalf of
organisations, they must monitor and track both traditional and new media sources for information
and issues, and respond accordingly. This paper presents findings from an exploratory study into the
use of social media during recent natural disasters in Australia, Japan and New Zealand.
Keywords: social media, crisis communication, disaster response
Introduction
Today the World Wide Web (Web) is accessible in the majority of Australian households, and is
embedded in the functionality of public relations practice, and therefore crisis communications. The
Web provides an “all-purpose communication medium” (Van der Merwe, Pitt, & Abratt, 2005, p. 40).
The Web is a worldwide network of information resources and a powerful communication tool;
information on virtually any subject can be found on the Web. During crisis situations web sites
enable organisations to communicate with the media and stakeholders in a more efficient and
effective manner (Kimmel, 2004). In crisis communication literature, basic principles exist to assist
communication practitioners in successfully communicating before, during and following a crisis.
Gonzalez-Herrero and Pratt (2008) assert that, although the fundamentals of crisis management
remain steadfast, “the tools to apply them need to be revised and adapted to today’s digital
environment” (p.151). How individuals use and interact during disasters can now be monitored
measuring social media usage. This is the premise for the initial research for this study.
Until recently, what was largely an informational medium has over time become increasingly social.
This shift has enabled the development of communication channels that have allowed for publics to be
more in control of what they read, hear and watch (Weber, 2009). These channels, known as social
media, can be referred to “activities, practices, and behaviours among communities of people who
gather online to share information, knowledge, and opinions using conversational media” (Safko &
Brake, 2009, p. 2). But this digital revolution also presents new communication challenge: social
networking sites. Considered a form of social media, social networking sites have altered the way
people communicate, interact and respond, in particular reference to personal and professional
relationships (Rapp, 2010). Social media refers to the use of web-based and mobile technologies to
turn communication into an interactive dialogue. Kietzmann et al. (2011) suggest that “social media
introduce substantial and pervasive changes to communication between organizations, communities,
and individuals” (p. 250).
Since their introduction, social networking sites have attracted millions of users, many of whom have
integrated these sites into their daily practices (Boyd & Ellison, 2007). Social networks can be
described as profile-based sites that encourage users with similar backgrounds and interests to develop
and initiate relationships with one another. The aim of social networking sites is to provide an online
community that not only promotes the individual, but also emphasizes the individual’s relationships
within the community. In 2008, the Universal McCann Wave 3 report noted that social media is on
the rise and continues to grow. Of all Internet users between the ages of 16 and 54 globally, the Wave
3 report suggests that over 307 million users visit friends’ social networking profile pages and 202
million users manage profiles on social networks. This surge of users has prompted crisis and disaster
communication practitioners to re-examine traditional communication methods and consider how they
may be applied to the online world. Guinivien (2002) argues that practitioners must engage with
“open dialogue and honest exchange, in an effort to resolve conflict and reach a compromise” (p.32)
with stakeholders. While, Mei, Namrata and Pang (2009) suggest that a combination of traditional and
online media messages should be disseminated to encompass all audience groups.
Fearn-Banks (2011) defines a crisis as “a major occurrence with a potentially negative outcome
affecting the organisation or industry as well as its products, services or reputation” (p.3). JordanMeier (2011) asserts that that a “crisis plan is incomplete without a comprehensive digital strategy”
(p.2). The Web and social media augment the challenges crisis managers face, therefore guidelines
need to be established to utilise the new communication tools of the online environment. The tools
and platforms available to crisis communicators today are sophisticated, evolved, and designed for
social distribution and redistribution. Social media sites such as Facebook, are forcing a new level of
understanding and participation for all communications professionals. In times of crisis, emergency
and conflict, crises response and reputation management teams need to understand its dynamics and
how to address the prevalence of information, positive, neutral, and especially negative on these sites.
Fearn-Banks (2011) argues that an increasing number of public relations practitioners are using social
media platforms “to gauge sentiments of their publics, prevent crises, or cope with crises” (p.55),
acknowledging the importance of this new platform in the practice of crisis management. However,
the body of research has also acknowledged, “trust in a person as trust in the person’s competence,
benevolence, and integrity” (Brown, 2009, p.62). It is these qualities that perhaps can be seen as the
most integral part of forming trust based relationships between communicators and stakeholders
during times of crisis and disaster. Therefore it is important to adapt these qualities into crisis
communications and attempt to control any factors that may influence these qualities.
Today, the Web and social media sites in particular, are an increasingly important component of crisis
and emergency communication. For crisis communication practitioners to act effectively on behalf of
organisations, they must monitor and track both traditional and new media sources for potential
issues, and respond to accordingly. This digital revolution presents a new communication challenge;
this proposed study intends to explore these effects.
Research Study
The Events
In early 2011, the countries of Australia, New Zealand and Japan suffered major catastrophic natural
events. For natural disasters, 2011 started with much of Queensland and New South Wales, swamped
by rain-triggered flooding. On January 10, 2011 Toowoomba experienced an ‘inland tsunami’ where
five people drowned, and some bodies are yet to be recovered. The following week due to extensive
rain during December and January, Brisbane and Ipswich experienced its worst flooding in more than
30 years. Then, as the state attempted to recover from these disasters, on February 2, Yasi, the most
powerful cyclone to hit Australia in a century, presenting winds of 290 kilometres per hour across a
front that was hundreds of kilometres wide, with the eye of this storm front measuring about 35
kilometres in width hit the north Queensland coast, causing serve damage, storm surges and death. In
July, international insurance agency Munich Re predicted that Australia’s flooding cost $7.3 billion in
economic losses (Llanos, 2011).
On February 22, 2011 Christchurch experienced its second earthquake in six months with a 6.3
magnitude quake striking some 10 kms away at a depth of only 5 km. The death toll was 182, making
it New Zealand’s worst natural disaster in terms of loss of life since 1931 (New Zealand History,
2011). This event caused widespread damage across Christchurch, especially in the central city and
eastern suburbs, with damage exacerbated by buildings and infrastructure already being weakened by
the 4 September 2010 earthquake and its aftershocks. Significant liquefaction affected the eastern
suburbs, producing around 400,000 tonnes of silt which has left much of the city uninhabitable.
(Canterbury Earthquake, 2011)
Finally, in March 2011, a massive earthquake struck Japan on Friday March 11 triggering a tsunami;
inundating vast areas of the country's eastern seaboard and causing major damage to the Fukushima
Daiichi nuclear power plant.
Research Question
Who uses social media sites such as Facebook during times of crisis, why are these sites used
and are they considered credible?
Methodology
The study was conducted via a Web-based survey created by the researchers and hosted using Survey
Monkey online software. The project was funded by Emergency Media and Public Affairs (EMPA)
with additional support from the University of Western Sydney. The survey instrument included a 7point ordinal scale to capture data on use of and opinions about the use of new communications and
social media tools and technologies. The survey instrument was based on a combination of questions
derived from an American Red Cross study on the use of Social Media in Emergencies (August 2010)
and core issues identified by the researchers in preliminary interviews with users of Facebook during
the Queensland Floods.
This study sought to track the use of social media to gain information in emergencies, measure
posting information about emergencies to others and the use of social media to ask for help in
emergencies. The study employed an uncontrolled (snowball) sampling technique. This sampling
approach was a useful and valid means to access the target population for the study. The survey link
access was driven mostly through Facebook. The focus was an invitation posted on the most popular
community Facebook pages for these major disaster events. The research was then endorsed on
‘official’ government and response agency Facebook pages, with many participants linking and reposted in many other Facebook pages, as well as other forms of social media, such as Twitter. The
resulting survey sample was a self-selected sample, with no age or gender barriers, expect those
employed by the social media sites.
Data Collection
Date were collected from March 11 to March 31, 2011. In the first 10 hours there were only 3
responses, then the Japanese Earthquake occurred and within 36 hours more than 800 responses were
posted, the final data set included 1146 responses.
Findings
The profile of respondents 71 percent were female and 20 percent were male ( 9 percent did not
answer) More than half of the respondents were employed (60% in full- or part-time employment) and
17% full- or part-time students. More than 50 percent of respondents were aged between 25 and 44
years, however research indicates that people under the age of 25 years are increasingly reliant on the
Web as a key information source (Lubans, 1998; Metzger, Flanagin et al., 2003; Shackleford,
Thompson et. al., 1999), and accessing their social media sites is their main purpose for Web access
(Rapp, 2010). The majority of respondents were Australian (81%).
In terms of social media use, 89 percent reported using social media every day or nearly every day.
Usage of Facebook averaged at 15.0 hours per week, Twitter 4.9 hours per week and other social
media 6.6 hours a week. When the disasters occurred, 56 percent of respondents reported reliance on
both ‘official’ and ‘unofficial’ sources of information from social media, with 38 percent reporting
they were more likely to rely on ‘official’ sources and only 6 percent more likely to rely on
‘unofficial’ sources. There was a gender bias here with males more likely to rely more on ‘official’
sources of information (44% cf. 36%).
In the event of a crisis, emergency or disaster, almost all the respondents (87%) reported that
they would use social media to communicate with loved ones ‘to let family/friends know they’re
safe’. More than three quarters of the respondents (76%) would use Facebook to provide information
to others, via postings, and 24 percent would tweet. The majority of respondents (89%) assert that
social media is useful in these situations. Figure One illustrates the use and reliance on social media in
Australia and New Zealand in 2011 compared with the 2010 Red Cross study in the United States of
America. Respondents were asked that “If the standard 000 number was busy during a disaster, would
you use social media?”. Close to 60 percent the respondents in this study asserted that they would
send a text message to a response agency asking for assistance while close the 73 percent would use
social media to contact the agency asking for help directly. This illustrates the power and trust
individuals now place in social media sites and their trust of these online communication sites.
Figure One: When 000 (911 for US) is busy, would you do the following...?
What became apparent during these disaster events was the outpouring of support within and outside
communities, and while there was a range of reasons for people starting up community pages and
getting involved in social media, the overwhelming driver was a sense of community. Use of social
media for respondents was associated with positive psychological response, as respondents reported a
sense of ‘connectedness’ and in being active on the sites through posting information assisted the
individual in a sense of purpose/usefulness’ during these disasters. Further, in reading the postings of
others, respondents were encouraged by the help and support being offered, this enhanced their sense
of community during and post disaster. Social media such as Facebook during these events enabled
individuals to join either actively or passively to become part of this response network. These social
media sites empowered people; they were no longer victims or bystanders. Suddenly they had an
avenue to engage and or monitor events and community opinion, which had not been filtered and
interpreted by mainstream media.
For those working and volunteering in the acute and early phases of disaster response the concept of
psychological first aid (PFA) is a familiar and approved approach that is trained. PFA involves the
provision of “a human, caring and compassionate response that addresses practical needs and
concerns above all else” (Australian Red Cross, 2010); typically this approach involves assistance to
promote connectedness, help, safety, calm, self-efficacy and group efficacy, and hope. Arguably, in
the context of the disasters studied here, social media is a timely, highly responsive and effective form
of ‘virtual’ psychological first aid; providing information, connectedness, help and compassion to
those affected.
Social networking sites are a powerful medium to crisis communication practitioners as they have the
capacity to assist in disaster and crisis awareness, develop better relations with key stakeholders
through information sharing and increase usage and ‘followers’ to social media sites and pages. For
example, in the day following the flash floods in Toowoomba, the number of “likes” on the
Queensland Police Service (QPS) Facebook page increased from approximately 17,000 to 100,000.
During this time the QPS Facebook page generated 39 million post impressions, this equates to 450
post views per second over the peak 24-hour period (QPS, 2011). Individuals turned to social media
sites and selected Facebook as the second key source of information, respondents watched TV News
(91.7%) then Facebook (81.1%) before accessing Online news services (75.0%) as the top three
information sources during these disasters.
The official and community driven sites allowed a variety of agencies and organisations to proactively
release large volumes of information to mass audiences in a timely fashion, circumnavigating the
traditional news cycles. Many of these sites became trusted information hubs for the respondents,
through which they disseminated information and also engaged in confirming facts on the events for
the community and also the media. Both official sites such as the QPS Facebook page and many
community pages such as Toowoomba and Darling Downs Floods and Cyclone Yasi moderators
sought to remove and dismiss rumours and misreporting before it became “fact” in the mainstream
media or the public more broadly. While the QPS used twitter with the #mythbuster hashtag (QPS,
2011). The community-based sites did not engage with Twitter to support their Facebook pages,
rather the moderators of these sites did so by posting comments and changing status reports often on a
minute by minute basis.
This study found that community-based sites established the ‘connectedness’ for individuals living in
the area or directly affected, those not affected but in the vicinity, and those who has some
relationship or tie to the area. After the 2010 Earthquake in Christchurch, the University of
Christchurch Student Volunteer Army (UCVA) which is a self-organised workforce, said to have up
to 10,000 students, rallied due to its founder, university student Sam Johnson and his Facebook page.
In 2011 the UCVA again assisted Christchurch people deal with the aftermath of the event. Activities
have ranged from shovelling silt, to assisting with welfare, to “visiting the hardest hit areas and
providing hand-to-hand information and support.” (MacManus, 2011) These sites provided specific
information directly to these communities often in a more timely and accurate manner than traditional
media. QPS suggests that one of the reasons behind the success of their Facebook site was their ability
to communicate with these communities without relying on mainstream media coverage to access
relevant details (QPS, 2011). Further, during the floods Brisbane City Council found that social media
including Facebook and Twitter, were remarkably successful in rapidly disseminating information
(BCC, 2011). Interestingly, mainstream media also embraced the Facebook pages, using them as a
source of information for news stories and updates.
In 2011 a vast number of individuals affected by and interested in these disasters instinctively
gravitated towards the social media sites. These networks were an excellent channel to enabled
organisations and also communities to distribute important public safety information a timely and
efficient way, enhance community support and assist in resilience and response in these communities.
After these disasters the connection to these various Facebook pages continues. In the immediate
aftermath, the reach of these social networks assisted those who were recovering from disasters by
rapidly connecting them with resources to obtain help.
Conclusion
Phone lines and power lines may have gone down, but during the disasters of 2011 individuals still
could access Facebook via their mobile phones, and they did; posting messages, sourcing information
responding to requests for help. This study found that social networks, when used well properly can
enable practitioners to facilitate positive conversations, develop trust-based relationships, and engage
communities’ mutually beneficial relationships. However, if official sites are going to be trusted, then
they must be established and maintained before disaster strikes. Community or ‘grass roots’ social
media sites do not need to be established prior to the event, however, the moderators during and post
the event must exhibit fair and accurate moderation and postings if legitimacy is to be established and
maintained.
While social media is has been described as a distraction, and commentators have suggested sites like
Facebook as trying to replace a real community with a virtual one. This study found that this is not the
case. When faced with these disasters, social networks enabled individuals to communicate with
others and these communities have provided support and developed resilience in the communities
most affected. The “beautiful display of humanity” shown by so many through postings and actions
during these disasters illustrates the power of human spirit and the formidable influence social media
now has in crisis and disaster communication.
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