Social Networks in the Time of Crisis – Ukraine as a Virtual Battlefield

Abstract

Previous research has established that during all phases of a crisis, people resort to different means of communication in order to get more information (McIntyre et al., 2012, Nelson et al., 2009, Lachlan et al., 2009), in order to reduce uncertainty ( Lachlan et al., 2010), and to gain a sense of control over the situation (Lachlan et al., 2016). At the beginning of the 21st century, mass communication is taking on new forms. The exponential growth and affirmation of the Internet as a very important channel for communication has minimized the influence of traditional media. Digitization processes, interactivity, multimedia, connection and networking of a large number of people and expediency in the dissemination of information enabled the wide use of social networks in times of crisis. In the first part of the paper, previous research on the use of social networks in crisis communication was synthesized, through the presentation of best practices for effective communication. The second part of the paper provides a detailed analysis of the use of social networks on the example of the war in Ukraine, answering two important questions: 1. how are social networks used to spread competing national narratives and disinformation in times of crisis? and 2. what is the role of social media owners and government policies in limiting disinformation?