Activating the Digital Community for Disaster Response

Who do people listen to during a crisis? In the aftermath of some disasters, misinformation runs rampant. Conspiratorial thinking, scams, and politicization make recovery work difficult, and push vulnerable people away from key resources. Communities that are traditionally wary of authority can be hard to reach.  

As seen immediately following Hurricanes Helene and Milton, rumors about FEMA malfeasance spread like wildfire through X, formerly Twitter. Crisis communications are part of a large social media ecosystem, rather than a one-way information flow from government agencies to residents. Recent research from George Mason University’s Qian Hu tackles the challenge of examining this entire system and recommends that government agencies change how they spread the word during an emergency.  

“Social media presents challenges for government such as reputation management and monitoring the spread of rumor and misinformation,” said Hu, a professor in the Schar School of Policy and Government. According to its analysis of more than 1 million crisis communication tweets during Hurricane Irma in 2017, Hu’s research team recommends that governments build networks for sharing information with individuals, businesses, and nonprofits before a crisis hits. By doing so, key information may reach constituents more effectively during disasters. 

Hu has published regularly using Twitter/X data, including a Public Administration Review study of the politicization of crisis communication. She discussed how this project’s approach is different than previous research.  

“Using social media to connect everyone involved in crisis communication is very important,” she said. “We need more studies on how nonprofit organizations, businesses, citizens, and emergent groups communicate during crises on social media.”  

Unlike previous studies, Hu’s team cast a wider net to examine tweets from all types of users during and after the storm. Their analysis highlights the role that nongovernmental organizations and even private individuals can play in sharing information and facilitating humanitarian response. 

“They employed a full-network approach, which is not used often,” said Jason D. Rivera, associate professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, whose own work examines the experiences of minority and historically marginalized groups in relation to disaster and emergency management. “It’s not often done predominately due to the logistics of dealing with all the potential actors within networks—they looked at over a million tweets.” 

By analyzing a diverse and broad collection of Irma-related tweets, rather than focusing solely on governmental communication, Hu’s research demonstrates the substantial role private citizens and nonprofit organizations played in sharing information and combating misinformation during Irma. Nonprofit organizations took center stage in online communication during recovery, highlighting local resources, organizing with victims, and facilitating a broader community-driven recovery effort. Influential citizens like journalists and celebrities employed their large follower base to amplify messages posted by official sources. 

Hu’s work suggests that by bringing these diverse voices into the fold ahead of time and vetting their reliability and potential reach, governments can improve the speed at which messages are disseminated. Vital information can be targeted to reach victims faster, even in traditionally marginalized communities. Rivera’s research supports Hu’s recommendations. 

“Sometimes we don't have organizations that are trusted by particular populations,” Rivera said. “However, there are individuals who do have the confidence of the community. If those individuals disseminate information through their own personal network channels, these communities can be better provided with the information they need at the most critical times.” 

This research highlights a set of untapped nodes that can aid in trustworthy information dissemination, speeding government efforts during time sensitive communications such as hurricane evacuation orders. 

“Public agencies should partner with nonprofit organizations to improve communication and address rumors,” Hu said. “They need to include these organizations in emergency planning and social media strategies before disasters hit. These organizations can help spread critical information to local communities and combat misinformation.”  

Social media creates vast and emergent networks that are not easily measured and understood. Hu’s work toward understanding the flow and content of information across the whole network, rather than just a narrow slice, is key to developing effective crisis communication strategies. Her research helps readers appreciate that, as disasters like Irma, Helene, and Milton occur more often, it’s time to lean on the community and build a communication coalition, rather than attempting to brave the storm alone. 

Qian Hu, Seongho An, Naim Kapucu, Timothy Sellnow, Murat Yuksel, Rebecca Freihaut, Prasun Kanti Dey “Emergency communication networks on Twitter during Hurricane Irma: information flow, influential actors, and top messages” in Disasters.