Abstract

Previous research into the role of social media in crisis communication has tended to overlook how critical infrastructure (CI) operators might benefit from sites such as Facebook and Twitter, focusing instead on how emergency managers and the general public use such platforms. This paper sets out to address this gap by empirically exploring the expectations of French citizens in relation to the crisis communication strategies deployed by CI operators during major incidents. It does so by reviewing the literature on crisis communication, presenting the results of an online questionnaire, and comparing these results to the current practices of the A31 Highway in France, which were examined via a semi-structured interview. Results indicate that members of the public expect CI operators to communicate via traditional and social media. Therefore, the paper proposes that A31 Highway operators should expand their current practices to include social media.

Highlights

  • Crisis communication can be defined as “the provision of effective and efficient messages to relevant audiences during the course of a crisis process” [1]

  • This paper will addresses these underresearched issues by presenting a succinct literature review on public expectations of disaster related information shared via social media

  • Our findings suggest that critical infrastructure (CI) operators should continue to use traditional media during crisis situations, and that this should be supplemented through the provision of disaster related information via the Internet, with websites and social media platforms maintained by CI operators

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Summary

Introduction

Crisis communication can be defined as “the provision of effective and efficient messages to relevant audiences during the course of a crisis process” [1]. The EU Horizon 2020 project IMPROVER (Improved risk evaluation and implementation of resilience concepts to critical infrastructure), makes use of Living Labs, or clustered regions of different types of infrastructure which provide specific services to a city or region. One such Living Lab is the A31 Highway in France. This paper will addresses these underresearched issues by presenting a succinct literature review on public expectations of disaster related information shared via social media It describes the French A31 Highway case study. This is followed by a presentation of the questionnaire and interview results, accompanied by a comprehensive discussion on the subject and a conclusion

General expectations of social media use in crisis
Background on French A31 Highway case study
Research Questions
Questionnaire
Interview
Expectations for information to be provided on social media
Expectations for information to be provided via other channels
Expectations for two way communication on social media
Interview results
High expectations for information to be available on social and traditional media channels
Expectations for social media use are not currently being met by the operator
Limitations
Conclusions
The American Red Cross
Findings
17. Eurostat
19. Fire Services Commissioner Victoria

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