Analysis of Twitter messaging in public crisis situations

Abstract

As social media becomes more widely used by public figures and private individuals, it has evolved as a tool to communicate critical information during crisis situations. This research compares the usage of Twitter by public authority figures like mayors, police departments and official city accounts during the Boston Marathon bombing and manhunt in 2013 and during Hurricane Harvey's landfall and subsequent aftermath in 2017. By comparing these two crises, other public authority figures and officials can plan how to use social media effectively in a variety of crisis situations.

Through quantitative analysis I compared the number of likes/favorites, retweets and replies and analyzed daily tweet volume during the crisis, while qualitative analysis was used to examine the type of tweet, additional media, hashtags, and message coding. The data revealed that public authority figures tweet greater amounts of rational and informational content to the public during crisis situations than emotional content. These authorities also created higher percentages of original tweets and replies rather than retweeting information from other sources. The research also indicated an overall increase in additional media being included with the text of the tweets between 2013 and 2017. Further research should analyze situational factors impacting tweet content.