User-generated content on the Facebook page of an emergency management agency. A thematic analysis
| Pages | 558-579 |
| Published date | 14 August 2017 |
| Date | 14 August 2017 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/OIR-09-2015-0295 |
| Author | Jayan Chirayath Kurian,Blooma Mohan John |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Information behaviour & retrieval,Collection building & management,Bibliometrics,Databases,Information & knowledge management,Information & communications technology,Internet,Records management & preservation,Document management |
User-generated content on the
Facebook page of an emergency
management agency
A thematic analysis
Jayan Chirayath Kurian
RMIT International University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, and
Blooma Mohan John
University of Canberra Faculty of Business Government and Law,
Canberra, Australia
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to explore themes eventuating from the user-generated content
posted by users on the Facebook page of an emergency management agency.
Design/methodology/approach –An information classification framework was used to classify
user-generated content posted by users including all of the content posted during a six month period
(January to June 2015). The posts were read and analysed thematically to determine the overarching themes
evident across the entire collection of user posts.
Findings –The resultsof the analysis demonstratethat the key themes that eventuatefrom the user-generated
content posted are “Self-preparedness”,“Emergency signalling solutions”,“Unsurpassable companion”,
“Aftermath of an emergency”,and“Gratitude towards emergency management staff”. Major user-generated
content identifiedamong these themes are status-update,criticism, recommendation, and request.
Research limitations/implications –This study contributes to theory on the development of key themes
from user-generated content posted by users on a public social networking site. An analysis of user-generated
content identified in this study implies that, Facebook is primarily used for information dissemination,
coordination and collaboration, and information seeking in the context of emergency management. Users may
gain the benefits of identity construction and social provisions, whereas social conflict is a potential
detrimental implication. Other user costs include lack of social support by stakeholders, investment in social
infrastructure and additional work force required to alleviate the technological, organisational, and social
barriers in communication among stakeholders in emergency management. A collective activity system built
upon the Activity Theory was used as a lens to describe users’activity of posting content on the Facebook
page of an emergency management agency.
Practical implications –By analysing the findings, administrators and policy makers of emergency
management could identify the extent to which the core principles of disaster recovery are accomplished
using public social networking sites. These are achieved in relation to: pre-disaster recovery planning;
partnership and inclusiveness; public information messaging; unity of effort; and, psychological recovery to
maximise the success of recovery in a disaster. Furthermore, a core principle which evoked a mixed response
was timeliness and flexibility.
Originality/value –Previous studies have examined the role of social networking sites in disastrous
situations, but to date there has been very little research into determining themes found in user-generated
content posted on the Facebook page of an emergency management agency. Hence, this study addresses the
gap in literature by conducting a thematic analysis of user-generated content posted on the Facebook page of
the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Keywords User-generated content, Emergency management, Thematic analysis, Activity theory,
Social networking sites, User benefits and challenges
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Emergency management is the process by which individuals, communities and
organisations prepare themselves to cope with a situation that can prove to be fatal if
not handled correctly through the timely implementation of suitable recovery strategies
Online Information Review
Vol. 41 No. 4, 2017
pp. 558-579
© Emerald PublishingLimited
1468-4527
DOI 10.1108/OIR-09-2015-0295
Received 5 September 2015
Revised 24 February 2017
Accepted 22 March 2017
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/1468-4527.htm
558
OIR
41,4
(Waugh and Tierney, 2007). Emergency situations can eventuate from disasters. Some of the
most prominent disasters in the past decade have been: hurricanes in the USA (Katrina,
Rita, Wilma, and Sandy); earthquakes in China’s Sichuan Province, and Haiti;
floods in Queensland Australia; a Tsunami in Japan; and, typhoon Haiyan in Philippines
(Chou et al., 2014). The most recent, bushfire and floods in New South Wales, Australia
(The Canberra Times, 2016, 2017), a bomb blast in Thailand (BBC, 2015), tropical storm
Erica in the USA (NBC News, 2015) and Tianjin blasts in China (CNN, 2015). Statistics
indicates that in the last decade there have been 1,333 major disaster declarations only in the
USA (FEMA, 2015). Thus, effective management of emergencies which includes successful
recovery planning is a crucial step in the long term sustainability of societies.
An emergency management model has three phases: mitigation, response, and recovery
(Richardson, 1994). Mitigation is the most crucial phase as detailed planning to handle
emergencies is accomplished in this stage. Proper planning will not only reduce the loss of
human lives and damage to property, but also lessens the social and economic impact
(Ahmed, 2011). In the response phase, relevant help is extended to victims of an emergency
to ensure that normalcy is being restored in the shortest possible time (Asghar, 2006).
The recovery phase, encompassing both short and long-term measures, is the final stage of
emergency management (Yasemin and Davis, 1993). The short-term recovery enables
restoration of basic amenities to society, whereas long-term recovery delivers fully fledged
rebuilding of damaged infrastructure so that social, economic, and cultural aspects of a
society are again fulfilled.
The role of social networking sites in emergencies has been widely discussed in the
literature (Van Gorp et al., 2015; Ahmed and Sargent, 2014; Oh et al., 2013). Users of social
networking sites have the flexibility to post user-generated content with ease, thus
increasing the value of these sites, when used in a variety of situations and contexts
(Kaplan and Haenlein, 2010). The significance of user-generated content (disclosed content
in the form of text and multimedia) in the context of social networking sites has been further
highlighted in the study of Kane et al. (2014). Some studies have examined the use of social
networking sites by emergency management organisations to share information with
citizens (Hughes and Palen, 2009) whereas other studies have concentrated on sharing
information between stakeholders affected by an emergency (Reuters et al., 2013). Though
social networking sites are used by citizens and organisations to disseminate information in
an emergency, there is a lack of literature identifying its use in all the phases (mitigation,
response, and recovery) of emergency management. Furthermore, literature investigating
the generation of themes eventuating from the user-generated content posted by users on
the social networking sites of emergency management agencies is sparse.
This is an exploratory study to determine the overarching themes eventuating from the
user-generated content posted by users on the Facebook page of an emergency management
agency. Relevant literature is introduced first, followed by research questions, methodology,
and methods of data collection, coding, and analysis. The results of thematic analysis are
then presented, followed by a discussion on the results and implications of this study to
researchers and practitioners. Limitations of the study and future work are discussed in the
concluding section.
Related work
Social networking sites are regarded as tools that can coordinate, manage and facilitate
different types of tasks in emergencies (Crowe, 2011; Ahmed and Sargent, 2014).
The ubiquitous nature of social networking sites has further extended their importance in
emergency management. In this regard, the fundamental principle of social networking sites
which makes them so significant in the context of emergency management is in delivering
direct communication between stakeholders in a free and open environment (Crowe, 2011).
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User-generated
content on the
Facebook page
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