Whathappened

#whathappened Do we trust social media in situations of crisis? Amanda Ehn Master’s thesis Supervisors: Fredrica Nyqvist and Jenny Lindholm Faculty of Education and Welfare Studies Åbo Akademi Vasa, 2018 Abstract Author (Surname, first name) Year Ehn, Amanda 2018 Work title #whathappened – Do we trust social media in situations of crisis? Unpublished thesis for Master’s degree in social policy Pages (total) Vasa: Åbo Akademi. Fakulteten för pedagogik och välfärdsstudier 118 pages Project in which the work was written Project RESCUE Abstract Social media is widely used as a communication channel today, and especially in a crisis, information needs to be correct and reliable; it could mean the difference between life or death. However, social media also has another side; it brings people together after a crisis and gives people an opportunity to show solidarity and love to one another. The aim of this thesis was to examine the relationship between social media usage and trust in situations of crisis, to shed light on the usage of social media in a crisis situation and whether the information retrieved from those platforms is trusted. The thesis describes the theories behind trust, social media, and crisis communication in order to have a base to build the research on. The research focused on three questions: How was SoMe used by people affected by the attack in Stockholm 2017? Do those affected by the attack trust the information on social media? What are the greatest problems with social media in situations of crisis? A single instrumental case study methodology was used to answer these questions, and the study itself was centered around the attack on Drottninggatan in Stockholm the 7th of April 2017. The participants in the study were either in Stockholm when the attack happened or had loved ones in the city. The study was conducted within a month of the attack. The study revealed that not only was the information in a crisis trusted more than the general information on social media, it also described the usage of social media in a crisis and the factors that affected the reliability of the information shared on social media. It revealed the good and the bad aspects of social media during the crisis, and it revealed what the users think were the most i significant problems with using social media in a crisis. The factors that may determine the reliability of the information itself were the source of the information, the content, and fake news. Fake news was also labeled as one of the major problems with social media in a crisis and, also the lack of sufficient source criticism. The participants called for more official statements on social media, however, the study also showed that fewer than half of the participants followed any key communicator on social media which also posed a problem. The conclusions drawn from this study were that social media is a proper communication channel which reaches many people in a very short time. Social media shows the best sides of humanity through features such as the hashtag, which is largely used to show solidarity after a crisis. However, the problems still exist even if social media is largely trusted and works well – problems such as the amount of fake news and rumors that are spread through social media. These problems can be reduced by educating people on the importance of source criticism, how to recognize fake news and not to share them. Keywords / index entry Social media, trust, and crises. Sociala medier, tillit och kriser. Sosiaalinen media, luottamus ja kriisit. ii Table of contents Abstract Introduction ......................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Aim of the thesis ............................................................................................ 3 1.2 Problem statement and research questions ...................................................... 4 1.3 Disposition ..................................................................................................... 5 1.4 Project RESCUE ............................................................................................ 5 Theory .................................................................................................................. 7 2.1 Social media – the world at your fingertips ..................................................... 7 How does SoMe work? ........................................................................... 8 SoMe and journalism ............................................................................ 11 SoMe in crisis communication .............................................................. 13 2.2 Crisis situations ............................................................................................ 16 Crisis communication ........................................................................... 18 Crisis communication lifecycle ............................................................. 19 The possibilities of social media as a tool ............................................. 22 2.3 Trust in crisis situations ................................................................................ 24 Trust ..................................................................................................... 26 What are the reasons for differences in social trust? .............................. 30 2.4 Trusting SoMe in a crisis – in theory ............................................................ 32 Research design and method ............................................................................. 37 3.1 Method ......................................................................................................... 37 Choosing a case to study ....................................................................... 38 Case study: The attack on Drottninggatan, Stockholm .......................... 39 3.2 Method of collecting data ............................................................................. 41 3.3 Selection of participants ............................................................................... 43 3.4 Data processing and analysis ........................................................................ 45 3.5 Reliability, credibility, and ethical aspects .................................................... 46 iii Results ................................................................................................................ 48 4.1 SoMe usage by the participants .................................................................... 48 4.2 How is SoMe used in a crisis situation? ........................................................ 51 Search for information .......................................................................... 52 Time as a factor .................................................................................... 54 Solidarity through a hashtag.................................................................. 55 4.3 Is SoMe trusted in a crisis? ........................................................................... 56 Content ................................................................................................. 59 Source criticism .................................................................................... 62 Who posted it? ...................................................................................... 65 Global versus a local source .................................................................. 66 4.4 What are the most significant problems with SoMe in a crisis? ..................... 67 Not following key communicators on SoMe ......................................... 69 Fake news ............................................................................................. 71 Concluding discussion ........................................................................................ 75 5.1 Concluding and discussing the results ........................................................... 76 5.2 Concluding and discussing the method ......................................................... 82 5.3 Final conclusions .......................................................................................... 83 What can be done to make SoMe in a crisis more trustworthy? ............. 85 Limitations and future studies ............................................................... 87 Svensk sammanfattning ..................................................................................... 89 References ................................................................................................................... 98 Appendix iv Figures Figure 1: Crisis communication with social media ..................................................... 18 Figure 2: Crisis communication lifecycle ................................................................... 20 Figure 3: The number of SoMe platforms used daily by the participants .................... 49 Figure 4: Distribution (%) of the number of SoMe platforms used daily by the participants. ................................................................................................................ 49 Figure 5: Distribution (%) of the frequency of publishing new material onto SoMe by the participants............................................................................................................ 50 Figure 6: Kriskommunikation med sociala medier ..................................................... 91 v Introduction The world as we know it is in turmoil. Threats

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