Content analysis of inter-organisational communication networks on social media during disasters
by Qingchun Li; Cheng Zhang; Ali Mostafavi
International Journal of Emergency Management (IJEM), Vol. 17, No. 3/4, 2022

Abstract: This study conducted content analysis on social media posts to examine topics of interactive communications among organisational accounts during disasters. The objective of this paper is two-fold: 1) examine the extent to which the interactive communications among organisations on social media are related to disaster topics; and 2) uncover the evolution of topics in interorganisational communications on social media during disasters. We used Twitter data during Hurricane Harvey to conduct content analysis. The results show that: 1) 94.5% of interactive tweets among organisations during Harvey were related to Hurricane Harvey; 2) the evolution of tweet topics demonstrated a strong correlation with the triggering events and phases of disasters; and 3) the topics of organisations showed a strong correlation with functions and network positions of organisations, instead of organisation types. The study could help organisations improve disaster-related communication using online social media for better disaster preparedness, emergency response, and post-disaster recovery.

Online publication date: Wed, 31-Aug-2022

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