Abstract
A key task in emergency management is the timely dissemination of information to decision makers across different scales of operations, particularly to individual citizens. Incidents over the past decade highlight communication gaps between government and constituents that have led to suboptimal outcomes. Social media can provide valuable tools to reduce those gaps. This article contributes to the existing literature on social media use by empirically demonstrating how and to what extent state-level emergency management agencies employ social media to increase public participation and promote behavioral changes intended to reduce household and community risk. Research to this point has empirically examined only response and recovery phases related to this process. This article addresses each phase of emergency management through the analysis of Twitter messages posted over a 3-month period. Our research demonstrates that while most messages conformed to traditional one-to-many government communication tactics, a number of agencies employed interactive approaches including one-to-one and many-to-many strategies.
Appendix I
Coding Categories
Advice and Guidance: “Suggestions to the public on how to respond, what actions to take, and what to refrain from doing during the disaster” (see Sutton et al. 2014, p. 775).
Rain falling across #MO means you could be affected by flooding. Remember do NOT walk or drive thru standing water. http://t.co/Anxg0HjpYD.
Drill-related: Promotion/coordination of citizen-focused exercise intended to increase preparedness.
Will You Drop, Cover, Hold On? Video spreads the word about #MO’s ShakeOut earthquake drill on Oct. 17 at 10:17 AM: http://t.co/ODmCkeJcJ.
Education-related: Instructions on how to improve preparedness levels or implement prevention/mitigation measures prior to an extreme event.
Create a family emergency plan so that you know what to do, where to go & how to communicate with your family during a disaster. #NATLPREP.
Gamification: Promotion of community and household preparedness through games and contests.
Calling all chefs! Do you have what it takes to submit this year’s winning #KitCookOff #recipe? Learn more: http://t.co/PRyfXrw5ch.
Information Gathering: Requests for information/dialogue with constituents not during response or recovery operations.
How prepared are you for the next disaster? Tell us all about it by sharing your story at mdprepares@gmail.com. #MDPrepares.
Intelligence Gathering: Requests for information by agency to increase situational awareness during response or recovery operations.
Did any of you feel the 4.9 earthquake 12 miles west of Fort Washakie? It happened just a little after 7 a.m.... http://t.co/AnELc0BmsT.
Resource Seeking: Requests for volunteers, fundraising, or other donations from agencies to citizens.
Looking to volunteer or to donate items to help #COflood survivors? http://t.co/hr2XMJCIIj has the best info to share. #COFlood #COPrepare.
Rumor Management: Clarification and corrections regarding misinformation and rumors.
Rumor Control: Despite media reports, NO tornado touchdown in Butler, Morris Co. last night. Info confirmed by NWS. Possible microburst.
Appendix II
Agency* | Twitter Handle |
---|---|
Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management | AlaskaDHSEM |
Alabama Emergency Management Agency | AlabamaEMA |
Arkansas Department of Emergency Management | AR_Emergencies |
Arizona Division of Emergency Management | AzEIN |
California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services | Cal_OES |
Colorado Division Homeland Security and Emergency Management | COEmergency |
READYColorado | |
Connecticut Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security | CTDEMHS |
District of Columbia Emergency Management Agency | DC_HSEMA |
Delaware Emergency Management Agency | DelawareEMA |
PrepareDE | |
Florida Division of Emergency Management | FLSERT |
Georgia Emergency Management Agency | GeorgiaEMA |
Hawaii State Civil Defense | HI_CivilDefense |
Iowa Homeland Security & Emergency Management Division | IowaHSEMD |
Idaho Bureau of Homeland Security | No Twitter Account |
Illinois Emergency Management Agency | ReadyIllinois |
Indiana Department of Homeland Security | IDHS |
Kansas Division of Emergency Management | KansasEmergency |
Kentucky Emergency Management | KYEMPIO |
Louisiana Office of Homeland Security & Emergency Preparedness | GOHSEP |
Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency | MassEMA |
Maryland Emergency Management Agency | MDMEMA |
Maine Emergency Management Agency | MaineEMA |
Michigan State Police, Emergency Management & Homeland Security Division | MichEMHS |
Minnesota Homeland Security and Emergency Management Division | MnDPS_HSEM |
Missouri Emergency Management Agency | MOShakeOut |
MoStormAware | |
Mississippi Emergency Management Agency | MSEMA |
Montana Division of Disaster & Emergency Services | MontanaDES |
North Carolina Division of Emergency Management | NCPublicSafety |
North Dakota Department of Emergency Services | NDDES |
Nebraska Emergency Management Agency | NEMAtweets |
New Hampshire Governor’s Office of Emergency Management | NH_HSEM |
New Jersey Office of Emergency Management | ReadyNJ |
New Mexico Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management | NMDHSEM |
Nevada Division of Emergency Management | NVEmergencyMgmt |
New York State Emergency Management Office | NYSDHSES |
Ohio Emergency Management Agency | Ohio_EMA |
Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management | okem |
Oregon Emergency Management | OregonOEM |
Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency | No Twitter Account |
Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency | RhodeIslandEMA |
South Carolina Emergency Management Division | SCEMD |
South Dakota Division of Emergency Management | SDemergencyMgmt |
Tennessee Emergency Management Agency | T_E_M_A |
Texas Division of Emergency Management | TDEM |
Utah Division of Emergency Services and Homeland Security | UtahEmergency |
Virginia Department of Emergency Management | VDEM |
Vermont Emergency Management Agency | vemvt |
Washington Emergency Management Division | waEMD |
Wisconsin Emergency Management | ReadyWisconsin |
West Virginia Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services | WVDHSEM |
Wyoming Office of Homeland Security | WyOHS |
*Accounts were identified in October 2013.
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