Social Media in Earthquake-Related Communication

Shake Networks

Francesca Comunello|Simone Mulargia

Emerald

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Hardback

9781787147928

13 August 2018

$110.99

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9781787147911

13 August 2018

$110.99

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9781787439351

13 August 2018

$110.99

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Description
Contents
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About

This book presents a comprehensive framework for disaster communication, with a main focus on earthquake-related communication, building on a previously fragmented, single-case study approach to analysing the role of social media during natural disasters.

The authors consider both traditional communication patterns and a networked model. Following traditional command-and-control disaster management paradigms, disaster communication has historically been framed as a linear process, in which experts or authorities give instructions to a passive audience. In recent years growing attention has been devoted to bottom-up disaster communication processes, and scholars have begun to focus on activities performed by citizens through digital media. These activities include eyewitness information sharing, collective intelligence processes, and digital volunteering.

Each chapter identifies and addresses four different scenarios: top-down information sharing, citizen information gathering, institutional communication gathering, and bottom-up information sharing.

Introduction

Chapter 1. Top-down Information Dissemination During Natural Disasters;
Chapter 2. Citizens as Audiences for Top-Down Information;
Chapter 3. The 'Networked Model': From Bottom-Up Information Sharing to Digital Volunteers;
Chapter 4. The 'Networked Model': How Institutions Gather 'Bottom-Up' Information from Social Media;
Conclusion
Afterword by Emanuele Casarotti

Two Italian professors propose a comprehensive framework for analyzing the role of social media during natural disasters, and a networked model for disaster communication that ingrates crisis informatics, media studies, and internet studies scholarship. The research project analyzes institutions' top-down information dissemination strategies, the behavior and needs of citizens during and after emergencies when consuming top-down information, and the barriers experienced by emergency managers in gathering citizen-generated information from social media. Several case studies show how citizens and institutions are using social media to spread or gather information, share emotions, and support recovery activity.
- Annotation ©2018

Francesca Comunello is an Associate Professor of Internet Studies in the Department of Humanities, Lumsa University, Italy. Her work is published in journals such as Games and Culture, Media Culture and Society, The Sociological Review, and Annals of Geophysics.

Simone Mulargia is an Assistant Professor of Internet Studies in the Department of Communication and Social Research (CORIS), Sapienza University of Rome, Italy. His work is published in journals such as Games and Culture, Media Culture and Society, and The Sociological Review.