Social media and disasters: human security, environmental racism, and crisis communication in Hurricane Irma response

ABSTRACT

Social media have been widely recognized as critical communication channel in disaster situations. However, there is limited empirical investigation on how the intersecting issues of social order, environmental impacts, and crisis communication unfold from the perspective of a social media user. This study examines 60,449 tweets to and from the news media in Florida during and immediately after Hurricane Irma in September, 2017. Based on a critical review of the literature coupled with an eight-category coding scheme (including second-hand reporting, reporting on self-experience, requesting help, coordinating relief efforts, and expressing well wishes), the article assesses the content and timing of tweets before, during, and after the storm. It finds that thematically, twitter coverage not only covers the storm itself but pressing social issues such as looting, price gouging, the privileging of elites in rebuilding efforts, environmental vulnerability, and abandoning pets. Temporally, the volume of different tweets peaked and dropped at different stages; for example, tweets about personal experience peaked when the hurricane hit the ground while requests for help peaked in the days after the hurricane. The study allows for a better understanding of the sociological, environmental, and even social justice impacts and related disaster response through the use of social media.

KEYWORDS:

• Social media
• tweets
• disasters
• content analysis
• Twitter
• hurricane recovery

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The second and forthe authors were supported in part by the Engineering Research Center Program of the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Department of Energy under NSF Award Number EEC-1041877 and the CURENT Industry Parnership Program. 

Notes on contributors

Benjamin K. Sovacool

Benjamin K. Sovacool is professor of energy policy at the School of Business, Management, and Economics, University of Sussex, UK.

Xiaojing Xu

Xiaojing Xu is a social psychologist and post-doctoral researcher at the Center for Ultra-wide-area Resilient Electrical Energy Transmission Networks (CURENT), University of Tennessee, USA.

Gerardo Zarazua De Rubens

Gerardo Zarazua de Rubens is an assissant professor at the Center for Energy Technologies, Department of Business Development and Technology, Aarhus University, Denmark.

Chien-Fei Chen

Chien-fei Chen is an environmental sociologist, research associate professor and director of eduaiton and diversity at the Center for Ultra-wide-area Resilient Electrical Energy Transmission Networks (CURENT), University of Tennessee, USA.