Understanding Sense-Making on Social Media During Crises

Abstract

Individuals are increasingly using social media during crisis situations to seek information. However, little is known about how they utilize social media to gain an understanding of crisis situations. The aim of this study was to close this gap by conducting sense-making interviews with 18 German social media users. A qualitative content analysis revealed the following sense-making barriers: low information value, negative emotions, biased reporting, taking advantage, volume of information, limited knowledge, speed of information dissemination, and technical barriers. Furthermore, users applied the individual sense-making strategies of searching, selecting, verifying, enriching, interpreting, and sorting, as well as the collective strategies of distributing, communicating, and reporting. This article contributes to research by providing categorizations of sense-making barriers and strategies in the context of crisis situations. Furthermore, suggestions are made for how emergency agencies could utilize social media for crisis and continuity management.