Functions of and communication behavior on twitter after the 2015 Nepal earthquake

This paper looked into how Twitter was used by users three days after the 2015 Nepal earthquake and which communication behavior were reflected in the microblogs. Grounded on the Uses and Gratifications Theory (U&GT) and the Situational Theory of Publics (STP), this risk and crisis communication...

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Main Authors:	Malasig, Bryan James C., Quinto, Edward Jay M.
Format:	Article
Language:	English
Published:	Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2016
Online Access:	http://journalarticle.ukm.my/10469/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/10469/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/10469/1/14723-40585-1-SM.pdf

id	ukm-10469
recordtype	eprints
spelling	ukm-104692017-07-05T04:17:56Z http://journalarticle.ukm.my/10469/ Functions of and communication behavior on twitter after the 2015 Nepal earthquake Malasig, Bryan James C. Quinto, Edward Jay M. This paper looked into how Twitter was used by users three days after the 2015 Nepal earthquake and which communication behavior were reflected in the microblogs. Grounded on the Uses and Gratifications Theory (U&GT) and the Situational Theory of Publics (STP), this risk and crisis communication study proceeded with a content analysis of 300 tweets per day mined from April 26 to 28, 2015. After data mining, inter-rating schemes which involved four trained raters sat down to analyze the data based on the research problems. Results showed that the top function of Twitter was the helping function followed by information, communication, and political functions, respectively. Although the predominance of these functions were uniquely different compared with findings in previous studies, results revealed that certain functions of Twitter persisted across various crises. In addition, most users exhibited problem-facing behavior while only a number of users showed constrained behavior. This implied that those who took to Twitter possessed high problem recognition of the crisis and point to how Twitter was used to spread information, making it a very useful social media tool during a crisis. Moreover, results supported Grunig (2013) who argued that, in times of crisis, people become active users of social media tools. Implications for risk and crisis communication plans based on the findings of the study are discussed. Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2016 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://journalarticle.ukm.my/10469/1/14723-40585-1-SM.pdf Malasig, Bryan James C. and Quinto, Edward Jay M. (2016) Functions of and communication behavior on twitter after the 2015 Nepal earthquake. Jurnal Komunikasi ; Malaysian Journal of Communication, 32 (1). pp. 1-17. ISSN 0128-1496 http://ejournal.ukm.my/mjc/issue/view/818
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Local University
institution	Universiti Kebangasaan Malaysia
building	UKM Institutional Repository
collection	Online Access
language	English
description	This paper looked into how Twitter was used by users three days after the 2015 Nepal earthquake and which communication behavior were reflected in the microblogs. Grounded on the Uses and Gratifications Theory (U&GT) and the Situational Theory of Publics (STP), this risk and crisis communication study proceeded with a content analysis of 300 tweets per day mined from April 26 to 28, 2015. After data mining, inter-rating schemes which involved four trained raters sat down to analyze the data based on the research problems. Results showed that the top function of Twitter was the helping function followed by information, communication, and political functions, respectively. Although the predominance of these functions were uniquely different compared with findings in previous studies, results revealed that certain functions of Twitter persisted across various crises. In addition, most users exhibited problem-facing behavior while only a number of users showed constrained behavior. This implied that those who took to Twitter possessed high problem recognition of the crisis and point to how Twitter was used to spread information, making it a very useful social media tool during a crisis. Moreover, results supported Grunig (2013) who argued that, in times of crisis, people become active users of social media tools. Implications for risk and crisis communication plans based on the findings of the study are discussed.
format	Article
author	Malasig, Bryan James C. Quinto, Edward Jay M.
spellingShingle	Malasig, Bryan James C. Quinto, Edward Jay M. Functions of and communication behavior on twitter after the 2015 Nepal earthquake
author_facet	Malasig, Bryan James C. Quinto, Edward Jay M.
author_sort	Malasig, Bryan James C.
title	Functions of and communication behavior on twitter after the 2015 Nepal earthquake
title_short	Functions of and communication behavior on twitter after the 2015 Nepal earthquake
title_full	Functions of and communication behavior on twitter after the 2015 Nepal earthquake
title_fullStr	Functions of and communication behavior on twitter after the 2015 Nepal earthquake
title_full_unstemmed	Functions of and communication behavior on twitter after the 2015 Nepal earthquake
title_sort	functions of and communication behavior on twitter after the 2015 nepal earthquake
publisher	Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
publishDate	2016
url	http://journalarticle.ukm.my/10469/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/10469/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/10469/1/14723-40585-1-SM.pdf
first_indexed	2023-09-18T19:57:31Z
last_indexed	2023-09-18T19:57:31Z
_version_	1777406628839030784

Functions of and communication behavior on twitter after the 2015 Nepal earthquake

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