Public's social media use during the Kahramanmaraş earthquakes on 6 February 2023

Abstract

Social media facilitates crisis management and emergency response efforts by disseminating disaster information during disasters. Understanding the positive and negative contributions of social media to disaster management after devastating disasters will make social media more effective and efficient for crisis management in the future. The objective of this study was to investigate the public's social media use in the 15-day period after the earthquakes that occurred on February 6, 2023, in Türkiye. The study was designed both quantitatively and qualitatively. The data were collected from 1698 people residing in Türkiye via a survey method and analyzed via descriptive, ordinal logistic regression, and thematic analysis. The thoughts of 245 participants regarding social media use were analyzed qualitatively. The results showed that social media was employed as a powerful resource for sharing information after the earthquakes. The participants used Instagram the most and followed the social media accounts of the institutions the most. Posting the physical and psychological damage of earthquakes and humanitarian aid negatively affected the participants and caused them to think that social media was useless. Due to the information shared by social media phenomena and nongovernmental organizations, the participants stated that social media was useful after the earthquakes. For people to share posts that will contribute to search and rescue, aid and damage assessment on reliable and high-follower social media accounts, disaster managers, scientists and policy makers should understand communities' usage intentions, satisfaction and criticism regarding social media accounts and platforms during previous disasters.