The new role of government
It is important for governments to review crisis and disaster plans and to ensure that social media are part of this. Due to the rise of citizen journalism, it is extra important that the government adheres to correct and understandable information with action perspectives. The major challenge here is the rapid flow of information/rumours on social media. Has the information not yet been verified? Then it is better to provide process information: tell what you know! Speed is subordinate to reliability here.
#daretoask
Are social media the holy grail? As a critical scientist, I am of course aware of the limitations of the results. The backpacker germany telegram data in Australia may not have any reception in the outback, the family in Asia has left the iPhone at home and the holidaymaker in Greece is not yet completely at home with social media. Crisis communication via social media should therefore only be considered as a supplement to the current form of crisis communication. A very useful supplement, indeed.
This research is available in two versions. The (English) graduation thesis describes the research method and analysis of the results. The thesis has been translated into a Dutch report including recommendations for BZ.