The Use of Social Media for Disaster Information in Houston

Chapter 1: Introduction to the Study

Introduction

Disasters of all types have the ability to affect the greater Houston-Galveston, TX

region. Disasters can be human caused from intentional acts such as terrorist attacks,

natural disasters as in hurricanes/flooding, or accidental in nature, including individual

error at a petrochemical facility, and those have the ability to impact the physical

infrastructure and the economy of the community. My goal in this study was to assist

emergency managers in the use of social media as an avenue for information

dissemination during disaster events and the collaboration of information between

emergency management officials and the community. I determined effective social media

platforms to use in terms of information dissemination during disaster incident

management in the greater Houston-Galveston, TX region. Houston et al. (2014)

concluded that it is unclear how social media is being utilized in disaster planning.

Therefore, I aimed to identify how emergency managers in the greater HoustonGalveston,

TX region can better use social media platforms in disaster incidents and event planning

to provide the community with critical disaster and event related information.

As disasters continue to disrupt the daily functions of a community, social media

is becoming a more widely used information sharing platform for emergency

management officials and the community to save lives and property (Huder, 2012;

Phillips, 2016). When a disaster impacts the greater Houston-Galveston, TX region,

government officials and emergency management officials will inform the community of

the type and scope of the disaster incident. The information can be used by those affected

to determine what actions to take in order to save lives, save property, and reduce the

impact of infrastructure and the economy. The information disseminated on social media

is part of a two-way information sharing between the community to the government

officials during disasters (Keese Smith, personal communication, January 10, 2019).

Because social media is becoming more widely used for disaster information sharing, I

determined which social media platforms are most effective during disaster incidents.

There is vital information that is needed during a disaster and the use of social

media platform(s) are increasing with each disaster. Social media has been able to bring

communities closer and individuals closer to their government and emergency

management officials (Arellano, 2013). I sought to determine which social media

platform(s) the community used to gain and share information with emergency managers.

Social media has the ability to share up-to-date information by both parties during

disasters in the greater Houston-Galveston, TX region.

With social media becoming widely used by government agencies, emergency

management, and the community as an intermediary, social media can be used to better

collaborate information during disasters. Social media has the ability to extend

government services and have citizen participation to collaborate information between

the government officials and the community (Khan et al., 2014). In this study, I focused

on the collaboration of information between the community and emergency managers

prior to the impact of a disaster, during the response, and through the recovery phases of a

disaster and event planning. The information from this study may be used to save lives

and preserve the property of citizens and stake-holders, as there are numerous potential

disasters within the greater Houston-Galveston, TX region on a daily basis. In

Chapter 1, I first present the background of this study along with the problem statement,

the purpose of the study, the research questions, and the theoretical framework. Then, I

describe the nature of the study, the definitions of terms commonly used in emergency

management, the assumptions of social media as it pertains to disaster incidents, the

scope of delimitations, and the limitations of this research. Last, I discuss the significance

of this study, and conclude with a summary.

Background

The Houston-Galveston, TX region has experienced numerous disasters that have

affected the region in various manners, such as weather-related incidents, petrochemical

industrial incidents, acts of terrorism, and large-scale planned events. The most recent

weather-related incident was Hurricane Harvey (2017) that caused wide spread flooding

across the region, damaging homes and creating road closures for many weeks. As

Houston-Galveston, TX is the largest petrochemical port in the United States and second

in the world with numerous facilities that line the Port of Houston, there is the potential

for hazardous materials to be released into the atmosphere or spilled during transporting

to and from the facility that has the potential to injure or kill community members

(Santosh, 2017). Furthermore, Houston, TX is a known target for terrorists with a large

airport named after a former president and the host of numerous large-scale planned

events such as the Super Bowl and the World Petroleum Conference, to name a few

(Mathew Slinkard, personal communication, January 10, 2019). These incidents effect

the community with road closures, widespread flooding, mandatory and voluntary

evacuations, and shelter in place orders; this information can be broadcasted through

social media.

This information is disseminated throughout the greater Houston-Galveston, TX

region in a variety of ways, with social media being one. Houston et al. (2014) identified

a gap regarding miscommunication between local government officials and the

information emergency managers are providing to the community about a potential

disaster with the use of social media. In this study, I filled that gap, through face-to-face

interviews with community members to assist emergency managers of the type of

information to disseminate for future disasters and planned events.

In this study, I filled the gap between emergency managers and the community as

it pertains to information sharing during all phases of the disaster management cycle

through social media. I found that social media may help government leaders and

emergency management officials to determine the best collaborative information sharing

efforts prior to and during a disaster or large event. Furthermore, the findings from this

study may be used to determine the most effective evacuations and other disaster related

information for the community and stakeholders. Social media increases civic

participation during a disaster to aid government and emergency management officials in

problem solving and improve their decisions (Khan et al., 2014). When disasters affect a

community, there is a need for information. Social media is a new technology where

governments and the media are bridged to provide information to the community and

stakeholders (Phillips, 2016). Social media is being more widely used by government

agencies and citizens to share information with one another rather than traditional media

as an intermediary source of information as previously used.

Social media is becoming more extensively used by government agencies,

stakeholders, and the citizens rather than obtaining disaster information from traditional

media sources (Feldman et al., 2015). Houston et al. (2014) found that social media has

advantages over traditional media in terms of information, adaptability, financial impact,

and with timeliness. Furthermore, social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook

have proven valuable to citizens, emergency managers, and stakeholders through sharing

of information about a disaster incident’s situational awareness (Haddow et al., 2014).

This study was essential as disasters do not have community or individual boundaries.

When used properly, social media platform(s) have the ability to spread information

quickly in an effort to reduce the loss of life and property prior to a disaster or planned

event (Phillips, 2016).

The planning and the use of social media is expanding the role of emergency

managers by providing the public information in real time to the emergency managers.

Emergency managers’ focus on the risks to the community and share information as it

relates to disasters and large events. The most important factor is that the recipients of

social media messages should have trust in the emergency managers who are in command

of communicating information to the public in a manner that they will understand (Rod et

al., 2012). Through the use and expansion of social media, the information needed for

the public can be disseminated to reach a greater number. The community also has the

ability to provide valuable information to the emergency managers about their

communities. As the use of social media is expanding with every disaster incident, its use

is becoming more common for disseminating information to the communities by officials

(Luna & Pennock, 2018; Steelman et al., 2014).

It is essential for emergency management officials to view social media as a

benefit in the dissemination of information prior to a disaster, rather than an afterthought

(Takahashi, 2015). As Arellano (2013) found, social media has brought communities

closer together because people check in on one another’s safety and share information

when a disaster incident takes place. Use of social media necessitates a larger role with

emergency managers to provide up-to-date information and correct any misinformation

previously shared by users (Houston et al., 2014; Luna & Pennock, 2018; Takahashi,

2015). Due to the recent popularity of social media and its distinctive characteristics,

social media has evolved in becoming a central source of information sharing for

emergency management officials and community members. The participation increase

among the community and stakeholders impacts the decision making of the emergency

managers in building better community relations (Anson et al., 2016; Khan et al., 2014).

The greater Houston-Galveston, TX region has experienced disasters of varying calibers

with the potential of a disaster at any moment. Through the use of social media,

government officials, emergency managers, and the community can collaborate

information in order to save lives and protect property.

Problem Statement

There has been minimal research into how social media can provide adequate

information collaboration between the communities, government officials, and

emergency managers prior to an anticipated disaster or large-scale planned event. This

illustrates a need for this study to ensure that government officials and emergency

managers have a better understanding of the use and ability of social media during

disasters (Liu et al., 2015). As social media becomes more widely used by government

agencies, including emergency management officials, there is a need to develop policies

and procedures that outline what information to disseminate in a timely manner. Houston

et al. (2014) identified that it is currently unclear how government agencies, including

emergency managers, use social media for disaster planning and communication with the

citizens. In this study, I identified how managers in the greater Houston-Galveston, TX

region can better use social media in disasters and large-scale event planning. Social

media is becoming more widespread among government agencies in the

HoustonGalveston, TX region as a way of providing information to communities and

stakeholders for disaster incidents (Sgt. Avant, personal communication, July 18, 2016).

However, the manner in which agencies are using social media is not providing accurate

and adequate information to the affected communities (Michael Walter, personal

communication, July 18, 2016). The use of social media may be a great benefit to the

Houston-Galveston, TX region in providing disaster information before, during, and

following an incident. There was a need for this study because current methods of

information dissemination are limited in their impact as individuals move to reduced

television viewing and radio listening, and instead are obtaining information through

various social media platforms. Traditional communication methods, such as television

and radio, may have interrupted services during a disaster depending upon the severity

and type of disaster. With social media, the potential to provide disaster communication

of information can be accomplished through cellular devices as an effective

communication tool (Houston et al., 2014). Social media is gaining popularity as a

means for intermediary exchanges of information between different government

agencies, the citizens, and the stakeholders to communicate with one another (Khan, et

al., 2014). Currently, when a disaster incident affects a community, initial information

may be unclear to those impacted and the damage caused by the disaster. Social media is

developing as an untapped potential for two-way information sharing as it pertains to a

natural and/or human-caused disaster incidents within the greater Houston-Galveston, TX

region. Through social media, emergency management officials can provide more

accurate information quickly to a larger number of individuals (Steelman et al., 2014).

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this qualitative study was to address the use and implementation

of social media as a source of providing and receiving accurate and detailed information

to community members by government and emergency management officials in planning

for, during, and following disaster incidents in the greater Houston-Galveston, TX region.

The use of social media by emergency management officials is a relatively new manner

for information dissemination. Social media may be used for advanced disaster

communication to communities for natural and human-caused disasters (Houston et al.,

2014).

As there is limited research in how social media is used in all-hazards disaster

planning, I filled the identified gap and determined how communication and which social

media platform(s) are perceived to be used during disaster incidents and large-scale

events in the greater Houston-Galveston, TX region. There was a need for this study as a

government spokesperson mentioned that the current methods of information

dissemination are reactive in nature, which has the potential to place communities in

harm’s way by not providing adequate information prior to a disaster incident. When

information is provided in a more proactive manner, the community has sufficient time to

save lives, property, and evacuate any potential effected areas. The region is vast

geographically and traditional media are not adequate for how large the region is with the

threat of numerous disasters that may affect the region. This study can be used by

government officials, emergency managers, and the community to work collectively for

information dissemination as it pertains to disasters and large-scale events to save lives

and property in the greater Houston-Galveston, TX region.

Research Questions

Research Question 1 (RQ1): What information from government agencies and

emergency management officials do community members and stake-holders perceive to

be the most critical to receive via social media prior to and during a disaster incident or

large-scale event?

Research Question 2 (RQ2): Which social media platform(s) would citizens be

more willing to follow from emergency management officials during a disaster incident?

Research Question 3 (RQ3): How does the community perceive that government

agencies and emergency management official can better collaborate with them?

Theoretical Framework

I used the transformative framework as the theoretical framework for this study.

The Transformative framework states that knowledge is biased and has an emphasis on

relationships within society (Creswell, 2013). I used this framework with the goal of

building relationships between the community, stakeholders, government officials, and

emergency managers in an effort to collectively improve disaster planning, response, and

recovery messages through the use of social media in the greater Houston-Galveston, TX

region (Creswell, 2013). The transformative framework can be used to change the lives

of those participating in this study, and other community members. It can also be used to

update the social media policies and messages by government officials and emergency

managers during future disasters and planned events.

The study participants discussed social media use as it relates to disaster

emergencies and large, planned events (Creswell, 2013). The transformative framework

was in alignment with qualitative research methods. I examined how study participants’

use of social media as an information dissemination (Creswell, 2013). The

transformative framework is an action-oriented research framework, as such, emergency

managers may be able to use information from the participants of this study to inform

their use of social media during an emergency incident or event (Creswell, 2009).

Nature of the Study

I conducted a qualitative phenomenological study. Creswell (2013) argued that

phenomenological studies are those in which the author investigates the lived experiences

of a sample population who all went through the same experience. I recruited eight

participants from the population of residents in the Houston-Galveston, TX region who

experienced previous large-scale disasters and planned events. I used purposeful and

convenience sampling to gather participants who were residents in the region in

September 2008 for Hurricane Ike and, most recently, for Hurricane Harvey in 2017. The

sample population ranged in age from 18 to 80 years old, and had various genders and

ethnicities, to ensure a sample size representing the whole community.

I collected the data through face-to-face interviews conducted with the selected

participants. The participants in the phenomenological study provided real life

experiences from the different disasters that have impacted their communities following

Hurricane Ike to the present time. I examined the best use of social media and how it can

be used by the community in obtaining and sharing information with the government and

emergency management officials. I also explored new methods of collaboration by

providing messages from emergency management officials to the community and

community with emergency managers (Creswell, 2013.) I categorized the responses from

the participants from the most repeated type of information the community was seeking

(i.e., evacuations routes or road closures), the social media platform(s) most discussed,

and concluded with collaborative efforts by participants responses. Each research

question has its own category in Chapter 5 of this research. Once I completed the

assessment of the findings, I made them available to government officials and emergency

managers in the greater Houston-Galveston, TX region to share within their respective

personnel. Regional government agencies may use the results from this study to develop

and update disaster incident and large-scale planned event social media policies and

procedures in how to better collaborate between agencies and communities on the

message disseminated and the social media platform used.

Definitions

Emergency: Any incident, whether natural, technological, or human-caused, that

requires responsive action to protect life or property. Under the Robert T. Stafford

Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, an emergency means any occasion or

instance for which, in the determination of the President, Federal assistance is needed to

supplement State and local efforts and capabilities to save lives and to protect property

and public health and safety, or to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe in any part of

the United States (FEMA, n.d.).

Emergency Manager: This position is responsible for the everyday emergency

management programs and activities. The individual will coordinate all facets of the

jurisdiction’s emergency management and incident/event capabilities (FEMA, 2008).

Emergency Operations Center: central management facility to carry out planning

and strategic functions on an event or incident (Sylves, 2015).

Event: A pre-planned non-emergency activity such as sporting event, concert, or

parades (FEMA, 2019).

Geo-Fencing: an invisible electronic boundary that is location-based using a set of

parameters for mobile technology based programs such as software or an app (White,

2017).

Hazardous Materials: Substances that have the ability to pose a threat to the

community or the environment if released or spilled (Haddow et al. 2014).

Incident: Is an occurrence that is either natural or man-made that requires action

by emergency and/or public safety entities to minimize the loss of life and property

(FEMA,

2008).

Threat: The warning of a possible hazard (Huder, 2012).

Vulnerability: The valuation of an agency’s preparedness level to determine the

abilities and resources that are available or required when a disaster incident takes place

(Haddow et al., 2014).

Whole Community: The approach that incorporates all aspects of the community

for emergency management (Phillips, 2016).

Assumptions

The assumptions of a qualitative research study are things that are presumed to be

true by those reading the study (Stating the obvious, 2022). I made several assumptions

when conducting this study. I assumed that the public should have an impact on the

communication regarding a disaster or an event in their community. I assumed social

media messages were used in planning for disaster incidents and large-scale events in the

greater Houston-Galveston, TX region. Additionally, I assumed that participants in this

study used social media as a source of information collection and sharing. I also assumed

that participants in the study would respond truthfully. I assumed that social media was

used a lot more when planning for disasters and large-scale events in the greater

HoustonGalveston, TX region prior to this study. I was able to mitigate these

assumptions through interviewing participants with open-ended questions.

Scope and Delimitations

In this study, I discovered that there is a lack of information from government

agencies and emergency managers regarding what information the community would

need during disaster incidents through social media messaging in the greater

HoustonGalveston, TX region. As Houston et al. (2014) mentioned, there is minimal

research into the use of and collaboration with social media for providing adequate

information to communities and stakeholders in disaster-prone areas. Liu et al., (2015)

recommended information for dissemination on social media platform(s) to the

community and the required community input for better assistance.

There is an increase of individuals using various social media platforms as their

primary source for information gathering, and sharing about their surroundings rather

than seeking out traditional media sources, i.e., television or radio (Rod et al., 2012). One

specific focus of my study was to prevent community members in the greater Houston-

Galveston, TX region from preemptive evacuations, such as those that occurred during

Hurricane Rita, 2005, and Hurricane Ike, 2008, which led to congestion on freeways out

of Houston and Galveston, TX. Through this study, I also helped emergency managers in

their use of social media for enhanced communications with and in collaboration with the

affected communities Through my study, I can help government officials and emergency

managers gain insight into what adequate information to provide as a disaster advances

toward a community, develop or changes, and any public service updates in order for

community members and stakeholders to make decisions on evacuations, sheltering in

place, or other guidance by officials.

The goal of my study was to gain awareness from community members within the

greater Houston-Galveston, TX region regarding what information they sought from

emergency managers. With this study, I had the ability to help prevent misinformation

pending a disaster such as Hurricane Katrina in August 2005. The diversity of the City of

New Orleans is similar to Houston, TX and Galveston, TX, with comparable hazards that

surround and have the potential effect on the communities. Governmental officials can

bridge relationships with the community using the information from my study as it relates

to sharing information about a disaster within the numerous communities in the region.

The new technology of social media as a disaster-response tool remains difficult to

implement within agencies (Feldman et al., 2015), and with this study I helped

government officials and emergency managers to develop disaster information sharing

policies to inform the community Furthermore, my study focused on English-speaking

members, within the greater Houston-Galveston, TX region, who have experienced recent

disasters and were residents in the region during Hurricane Ike (2008) and

Hurricane Harvey (2017) disasters

The potential for transferability was high for this study as information can be

unclear prior to and at the onset of a disaster. The information from my study might

assist other government agencies and emergency managers in the development of an

effective use of social media policy where emergency managers and the community

request information. The data gathered from my study has the ability to bridge

communities, stake-holders, government officials, and emergency mangers through

collaboration in the use of social media for disasters.

Limitations

There were various limitations within this study on the use of social media as it

pertains to disaster incidents and large-scale events in the greater Houston-Galveston, TX

region. First, the media preference of the demographics in this region varies by age and

language spoken. While older age groups are accustomed to traditional media, younger

age groups obtain their information more often from various social media platforms (Rod

et al., 2012). The older age groups have the potential to miss out on the immediate nature

of information via social media as they wait for the traditional media broadcast times to

obtain information regarding a local pending disasters or planned event. According to

Rod et al. (2012) individual differences and community demographics exist during

emergencies. This study was conducted only in the English language which limits proper

representation of the cultural diversity of the region.

A second limitation was the numerous social media platforms that have been used

by all age groups which limits the effectiveness of emergency managers getting important

and accurate information to the community (Khan et al., 2014). This study sought out the

social media platforms that the community turns to for a constant collaborative

information sharing effect. The data identified the social media platforms that

government officials and community members might use to work together in providing

one another with information to ensure public safety.

Lastly, the agency and community relationships need to be as such that when

information and instructions are disseminated, that there is uniformity in adhering to the

provided messages. The relationship between community and government agencies will

need to have trust with one another to ensure all instructions and guidance is followed in

an effort for everyone to remain safe (United States Office of Government Ethics, 2000)

when disaster strikes or there is a large-scale event in the region. Through the use of

social media the government and citizen relationship can flourish with everyone being out

of harm’s way and safe.

One measure that addressed these limitations was working with traditional media

outlets and encourage their viewers to use the more popular social media platforms.

Having emergency managers and traditional media working in cooperation to share

information in multiple languages, with visuals of what the social media platform is and

the message, will address the age group gap limitations (Felsman et al., 2015; Noji,

2011). A second measure that addressed the limitations was the broadcasting of

information on the internet news sites, television, radio, and the more common social

media platforms (Takahashi, 2015). Displaying the most common social media emblems

on traditional media outlets advised the community as to which social media platform to

focus for accurate information when there is a disaster incident in the greater

HoustonGalveston, TX region. By showing the most common social media emblems in

conjunction with traditional media, this narrowed the number of social media platforms

the community will use for combined information sharing (Dr. Laura Myers, personal

communication, April 19, 2017). Associated with social media limitations listed there

were biases.

With research there are biases and prejudices that must be overcome. One bias of

using social media as an information sharing tool during a disaster is that the messages

will only be in the English language. According to a government official, the greater

Houston-Galveston, TX region is widely and culturally diverse. Emergency management

and government officials will need to have messages for the variety of languages that are

commonly found in the region. Another bias was that the information will not be useful

in all areas of the region due to its immense geographic size. This bias was addressed in

interviews as emergency managers have the ability to geo-fence a location and provide

information via social media to that designated area. There were biases within the study

that were overcome in an effort to advance the study of social media as an information

collaboration tool for disasters.

Significance

This study filled the identified gap by providing information to government

agencies and emergency management official as to the use of social media as opposed to

traditional media sources when disasters and large events impact the greater

HoustonGalveston, TX region. This project was unique in that there is significant

research on social media and communication but there is an identified gap of the

understanding of social media as it pertains to disaster information sharing between

governmental agencies and communities in the region. Typically, information has been a

one-way avenue

during disasters through traditional media outlets. However, with the introduction and

rapid use of social media, information can become a collaborative effort between

government agencies, the community, and stakeholders. The use of social media as an

information sharing platform has expanded to government agencies within the past few

years (Houston, et al., 2014). This study further examined the policies, procedures, and

what information the community is seeking from the government agencies as it pertains

to social media. This data gathered in this study supports Houston et al. (2014) in that

social media communication can provide information from government agencies to

citizens and vice versa in an effort to save lives and property prior to and during a disaster

incident, and information during large-scale planned events.

Social media has the ability to advance disaster communication (Arellano, 2013).

The data gathered in this study assisted emergency managers in the use of social media as

a communication bridge to their communities. Brian Norcross (personal communication,

April 17, 2017) stated that government agencies are not using social media to provide

adequate and accurate information to disaster affected communities. This study provided

guidance for governments and emergency managers regarding what information the

community is needing and how social media can be a two-way information sharing tool

for all parties within the community.

As social media is expanding into the mindset of how individuals think, their

actions, and communication regarding disasters (Arellano, 2013), this study showed the

importance of using social media at the forefront of disasters in a culturally diverse

region that has numerous potential for disasters on a daily basis. This study can bring the

community, stakeholders, and emergency managers together in providing information to

share with one another in an effort to work collectively in times of disasters.

Summary

This study was conducted through the interviewing of citizens and stake holders

in the greater Houston-Galveston, TX region to discover what information is sought from

government officials and emergency managers on social media as it relates to disasters in

the region. As disasters have the potential to inflict large economic and physical damage,

this study researched how damage could be minimized and more timely and accurate

information shared through social media in collaboration with government officials,

emergency managers, and the community. According to a government official, social

media has the capability to provide timely and accurate information where society does

not have to fear the media, but are able to work in tandem. This study identified the use

of social media as a catalyst for information gathering and sharing in the planning for

disasters and related large-scale events. The results from this study were provided to

emergency managers in the greater Houston-Galveston, TX region in an effort to amend

or develop their social media policies for information sharing and gathering during a

disaster incident. The main focus of the research was to prevent the loss of life and

property by the sharing of information between the community members and emergency

managers using social media.

Chapter 2 will further review previous research on the use of social media and the

impacts that social media has as a communication tool and process during disaster

incidents. Social media has been previously studied as a communication avenue for

citizens, stake holders, and emergency management officials. A gap remains in the

research literature as to what information the community and stake holders are seeking

from emergency managers.

Chapter 2: Literature Review

Introduction

The greater Houston-Galveston, TX region is prone to multiple types of disasters

at any given time throughout the year. Disasters can be either human caused, intentional

acts such as terrorist attacks, or natural events such as hurricanes/flooding or wildland

fires. Additionally, disaster incidents may be accidental where individual errors

negatively impact the infrastructure and the economy of the area of study. The results of

this study may be used by government leaders and emergency managers to improve the

use of social media for information dissemination to the community. Through this study,

I sought out from the community as to which social media platform(s) to use, and there

best use in terms of information dissemination. Houston et al. (2014) mentioned that it is

uncertain how social media is being utilized in planning for disaster incidents and events.

With this study, I aimed to identify better use of social media platforms when disaster

incidents take place and large-scale event planning in an effort to provide the greater

Houston-Galveston, TX region community with information.

With the continuation of disasters that interrupt communities around the world,

social media is becoming a tool that is more widely used for information sharing by

government leaders and emergency management officials to save lives and property

(Huder, 2012; Phillips, 2016). Social media has the capability to disseminate information

and is an avenue for two-way information sharing with the community to the government

officials when there is a disaster (Keese Smith, personal communication, January 10,

2019). The data gathered in this study helped me determined how leaders and emergency

management officials can better use social media platforms in a more effective manner

during disaster incidents.

There has been minimal research into how the use of social media can provide

adequate information collaboration between communities, government officials, and

emergency managers prior to an anticipated disaster through the response and recovery

phases of the disaster incident. There is a need for this study to ensure that government

officials and emergency managers have a better understanding of the use and ability of

social media during disasters. As social media has become more widely used by

government agencies, including emergency management officials, there is a need to

develop policies and procedures that outline which social media platforms should be used

to disseminate information in a timely manner. There is a need for this study because

current methods of information dissemination are limited in their impact as individuals

move to reduced television viewing, radio listening, and instead are obtaining information

through various social media platforms. With social media, the potential to provide

disaster communication information can be accomplished through cellular devices as an

effective communication tool (Houston et al., 2014). Social media is developing as an

untapped potential for two-way information sharing as it pertains to a natural and human

caused disaster incidents within the greater Houston-Galveston, TX region.

As social media becomes more widely used in everyday life here are several

articles about social media and its readiness for information dissemination and two-way

collaborative efforts with emergency management. Many researchers (e.g., Arellano,

2013; Khan et al., 2014; Keim & Noji, 2011) have detailed the importance of

communication and how social media can be used cooperatively with traditional media

sources. The current literature available addresses the history of social media, benefits of

social media use, and the limited use as a disaster warning system (Jacobs, 2016). The

literature available for this study is relevant as social media becomes more widely used

for disaster preparedness, response, and recovery efforts.

After the introduction, the literature search strategy details what databases were

used, and how they were used. Then the theoretical foundation discusses transformative

framework and its application to this study. The chapter continues with the conceptual

framework to detail the concept of phenomenological research for this study. The chapter

concludes with the literature review that went into great detail of the chosen

methodology, strengths and weaknesses of social media, what remains to be studied, why

the approach was used for this study, and a summary of themes and the gap within this

study.

Literature Search Strategy

The literature search strategy I used for this study included accessing the Walden

University Library online databases and conducting in-depth searches on communication,

social media, and collaboration. I conducted a search of peer-reviewed articles, scholarly

publications, and books on communication, disasters, emergency management, and social

media. In the beginning of the study, my focus was only on social media. As the search

strategy continued and progressed, the focus expanded to overall communication and

information sharing as it aligned with the theoretical framework of this study. My

research continued with online research databases of ProQuest Central and Google

Scholar. Additionally, I searched for articles pertaining to social media and disasters. I

also reviewed the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) website and

publications for information sharing and social media. Additionally, I examined multiple

social media policies from local government agencies, as the study area is large and

disasters effect those agencies collectively and respond together.

Throughout this study, I used numerous key search terms when searching for

scholarly articles. I used the following terms to guide the literature search:

communication, social media, traditional communication, media, news media, media

messaging, social media and community collaboration, social media and disasters, and

disaster communication. Previous researchers referenced the aforementioned terms in the

articles for this study. The terms were searched frequently to seek out any new social

media related terminology that was discovered. There were no additional articles found

for this study.

An outline of social media and traditional media messaging was developed

through research and discussion with other qualitative researchers. I discovered numerous

articles on social media and social media messaging. I also found multiple articles

regarding the use of social media during disasters and community collaboration with

local governments. Using two-way communication within social media as it relates to

disaster communication was the final topic of search. Communication was the main topic

for a majority of the articles as the communication was up-to-date and could change as

the disaster changes. Articles about communication focused on how communication has

evolved with social media and the benefits, as well as, how to control any false

messaging that may be broadcasted. I sought after topics related to large-scale event

messaging. The articles I discovered and used revolve around social media, messaging,

and disaster or events to support the transformative framework of this study.

Theoretical Framework

The transformative framework is what I used in this study. The transformative

framework states that knowledge is biased and has an emphasis on relationships within

society. The use of this framework will help foster relationships between the community,

stakeholders, government officials, and emergency managers in an effort to change the

lives in a positive manner as it relates to disaster planning, response, and recovery

through social media (Creswell, 2013). The transformative framework will allow the

community and stakeholders to have the ability to have a positive impact on furthering

information sharing in which social media platform(s) are to be used by government

officials and emergency managers as they relate to disasters, human caused or natural,

and large-scale planned events (Mertens, 2017).

According to Creswell (2013), the transformative framework was initially created

in 1987 by researcher Fay. Researchers Greene and Caracelli (1997) identified

transformative research as a research design where the research provided value-based

research. Furthermore, Greene and Caracelli (1997) stated that the transformative

framework is a research design that empowers participants and places a focus on action

solutions. From its development, numerous researchers have used the transformative

framework in their research (Sweetman et al., 2010). Although the research framework is

relatively new, the transformative framework can have a large impact in social change in

a positive manner with all societal levels (Mertens, 2017).

The transformative framework has been used in multiple research projects that

focus on an action solution for positive social change (e.g., Sweetman et al., 2010). In

previous research, the use of the transformative framework has been used by researchers

with issues of concern (Sweetman et al., 2010). Researchers have used the

transformative framework to seek ideas and solutions that can change the way businesses

conduct work. This is done through the influence of employees, and the customer

interest to improve society and to support any positive changes (Mertens, 2017;

Sweetman et al., 2010). This framework has been applied to previous research about

communication between traditional and social media platforms. Feldman et al. (2015)

used the transformative research framework to investigate modern technology options for

disaster resilience. Participants in that research provided guidance in the shift from

traditional radio communication to the use of social media. Additionally, research has

been conducted on what sociodemographic and individual preferences are with regard to

receiving messages as they relate to evacuation procedures (Rod et al., 2011). The

transformative framework has been used since its inception for public and private

agencies to either update or change policies from the outcomes of the participants where

the outcomes focused on action attainable solutions.

For this study, participants were able to provide a voice for the communities in an

action-oriented solution for change in social media policies and use as it relates to disaster

incidents and large, planned events (Creswell, 2013). The use of the transformative

framework aligns with qualitative research methods by involving the research participants

as a valuable resource tool for governments and emergency management officials

(Creswell, 2013). The transformative framework is an actionoriented research framework

(Creswell, 2009) where the actions and information provided by the participants will

assist emergency managers in deciding the type social media message to provide

throughout an emergency incident or event.

Social media presents a new and unique method of communication between all

levels of government and emergency management officials (Khan et al., 2014). The use

of the transformative framework helped me focus on positive social change, action

solutions, and value-based research within this study and encompass those key elements

into creating or updating governments in the greater Houston-Galveston, TX region and

emergency management official’s social media policies Social media has the potential to

be a very powerful tool prior to, during, and following a disaster and/or large-scale,

planned event, and in combination with the transformative research framework

(Takahashi, 2015). In this study, I used the research questions and responses in an effort

to have more collaboration with the community members, stakeholders, and government.

The study consisted of the elements of transformative framework laid out by Greene and

Caracelli (1997) in the mid-1990’s. Creswell (2009) stated, that the elements within the

transformative framework empower research participants through their involvement in

providing an importance of the social media platforms) to use during a disaster and how

to collaborate with the community and stakeholders. Furthermore, within the

transformative framework, the study participants had a voice in an effort to improve the

lives of those that reside or conduct business within the greater Houston-Galveston, TX

region. The application of the aforementioned elements in an evolving technological

communication means that is intended to save lives and property during disasters and

share information as it pertains to large-scale events. In this study, I incorporated the

components of transformative theoretical foundation into a current and modern form of

communication seeking value-based information as social media is being used more and

more each day.

Literature Review

The literature review is organized into multiple sections. I focused on

communication as it pertains to disasters, natural and human-caused, and large-scale

events in the first section. Next will be social media, its use, and capabilities. In the final

section, I provide discussion on collaboration with the community and social media as a

form of two-way communication. As there is a paradigm shift in messaging from

government officials and emergency management officials due to the increased demand

for information from the community, the literature review helps me show the importance

of the use of social media messaging prior to, during and following a disaster incident or

large-scale, planned event.

Communication

Communication is the ability to share information through traditional methods

along with social media for community collaboration with government leaders and

emergency management officials. Prior to and during a disaster, information must be

shared internally and externally by government leaders and emergency management

officials (Haddow et al., 2014). Furthermore, as Haddow et al. (2014) stated,

communication with the community and stakeholders must be a priority during disasters.

Disaster and event communication must be planned well in advance in order to provide

timely and accurate information so that lives and property can be saved (Pressman &

Schneider, 2009; Stanleigh, 2011.). Through understanding of the region, many

challenges can be avoided so that the community and stakeholders may gain trust in their

government leaders and can make better decisions to safeguard their lives and property.

Communication is a challenge when disasters strike and information is

continuously in demand. Therefore, communication is an essential element in disaster

and event planning, response, and recovery efforts (Houston et al., 2014). It is the most

discussed topic in after action reviews from agencies following a disaster incident or a

large-scale event for public service agencies (FEMA, 2008). Communication is key to

sharing messages so that the public is informed about a disaster or a large-scale event. As

disasters and events are becoming more frequent around the globe, communication is key

to saving the lives of the community (Mazoera et al., 2006). Since natural disasters

typically cannot be prevented entirely, effective communication remains a substantial

challenge (Iowa State University, 2016; Feldman et al., 2015).

The greater Houston-Galveston, TX region has experienced disasters of grand

magnitude and continue to host large-scale events such as the National Football League

(NFL) Super Bowl, National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Final Four, and the

Major League Baseball (MLB) World Series. Effective communication can provide

information about the large event(s), traffic management plans, and information if there is

an emergency within the event. This communication has typically been conducted with

mass media in order reach a large percentage of the population (Houston et al., 2014). As

stated by Michael Walter (2017), the message must be clear and concise so that all

persons can understand the message and the warning, and so there is no misunderstanding

of the message.

Prior to and during a disaster or a large-scale event, where the norm has been

altered, communication of accurate information is vital to saving lives and property.

When messages come from government agencies there must be trust from the community

in their government (United States Office of Government Ethics, 2000). Trust within the

government has profound positive impacts in effective disaster communication.

Government leaders and emergency management officials need to understand the

perception of the public when drafting messages.

Having knowledge of the public’s perception of the disaster or large-scale event

will contribute to crafting clearer messages to reduce the public’s disruption during

disaster response or evacuation and gain better compliance to directives by those leaders

(Stein et al., 2011). Having an understanding of what information is wanted by the public

will provide government leaders and emergency management officials with insight in

what messages are to be communicated. Furthermore, Stein et al. (2011) stated that

communication by emergency managers has a prominent role in how the community

responds to messages during a disaster.

Information is valuable during a disaster. During disasters, natural and/or human-

caused, information is in demand and that demand is never-ending by government leaders

and the community (Haddow et al., 2014). Government leaders and emergency managers

must communicate with the public and stakeholders by providing timely and detailed

information. Haddow et al. (2014) stated that when providing the community and

stakeholders information on disasters and events, the community’s necessities and

interest are foremost so they can make informed decisions. With effective leadership

government agencies and emergency management officials can provide the community

with accurate information when there is a high demand for it.

An effective leader can articulate the agency’s mission and goals throughout the

disaster incident or event when communicating to the community (Plachy, 2009). When

there is good leadership with government agencies and emergency management official’s

communication will be effective and resourceful (Pressman & Schneider, 2009).

Furthermore, as leadership styles have changed over the previous two decides due to a

more diverse world communication can be difficult when community members and

stakeholders are under extreme stress (Deegan, 2009; Pressman & Schneider, 2009).

Former Secretary of State James A. Baker III quoted in regards to leadership planning

said “proper planning prevents poor performance” (James Baker III, personal

communication, September 30, 2017). Furthermore, through good leadership,

communication with the public has a greater chance of not being misunderstood

(Novitski, 2008). Effective and efficient leadership coupled with good communication

skills between the greater Houston-Galveston, TX communities and stakeholders will

provide adequate information in order to make informed decisions about disasters and

large events that impact their lives.

As disasters are occurring more frequently, communities are becoming more

susceptible to the disasters; government and emergency management leadership is key to

providing information to the communities through effective communication skills and

tactics (Masozera et al., 2006). Disaster and event communication will have little

influence if the community and stakeholders do not receive the messages (International

Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, n.d.). Communication from

government leaders and emergency managers is key to keeping the public informed

during times of disaster and large-scale events. Large-scale events have the ability to

alter the day-to-day life of the community and when not informed it can cause undue

stress. Communication from government leaders and emergency managers must reach

the public (Haddow et al., 2014). Previous methods of communication with traditional

media is only a portion of the way leaders can effectively communicate with the greater

Houston-Galveston, TX region. With the advent of social media, there has been a

paradigm shift in the way leaders can communicate to the community and stakeholders

(Nauheimer, 2009). Communication has changed over time, and government and

emergency management leaders will need to conceptualize the most efficient and

effective mode with modern technology to relay messages (Feldman, et al., 2015).

Disaster and event communication can be accomplished through traditional media as well

as social media in an effort to continue to provide accurate and timely information to the

community and stakeholders in the greater Houston-Galveston, TX region. With

communication being the number one item in all after action reports following disasters

and large-scale events, social media can improve communication avenues for all that

participate in disaster and event planning, response, and recovery.

Social Media

The internet and social media has changed the mode of communication between

leaders and the community into a two-way communication avenue for information

sharing. As more technology is being introduced during disaster and event planning and

response it increases the capabilities to share information. Social media has been able to

assist in maintaining order and allowing for public service agencies to continue to

provide essential functions (U.S. Department of Homeland Security. 2008). The use of

social media has modernized the communication landscape for government leaders and

emergency management officials (Haddow et al., 2014).

Social media is a new form of conversation between the community, stakeholders,

and government agencies to share information that directly impacts their area or family.

Social media has become a critical component in disaster and event communication

(Haddow et al., 2014). The technology with social media has brought a new mode of

communication that is changing the way government leaders and emergency managers

communicate with their communities and stakeholders.

As technology continues to expand, social media concurrently grows in the role of

disaster communication and response (Arellano, 2013). Arellano (2013) further

mentioned that social media continues to advance the way people communicate in the

world today. Throughout the previous disasters, that have stuck the greater

HoustonGalveston, TX region, social media has proven valuable in the role of

communication

and information sharing from government leaders, emergency management officials, and

between community members. Social media has drastically grown in its ability to share

information as an alternative communication process (Haddow et al., 2014).

Social media provides alternative modes of communication and has the ability to

strengthen the current communication systems that are in place (Ference, 2014). When

disasters strike in the greater Houston-Galveston, TX region there is a chance that power

will be intermittent or shut off due to varying factors from the disaster (Mark Rayne,

personal communication, September 3, 2017). Social media is the alternative route for

providing information when television or radio stations are out of power or not on backup

generator power to relay the messages to the community (Takahashi, 2015). Arellano

(2014) argued that social media can become a centralized place for leaders and the

community to share information about damages, service outages, needs of a community,

and what help can be provided by public safety and service in conjunction with volunteer

groups.

There are numerous benefits to using social media as a tool in public relations

with the community and stakeholders (Khan et al., 2014). The use of social media

creates an openness with the government agencies and emergency management offices to

share information as the disaster and event changes. With the demand for more

transparency, using social media can improve the transparency between the community

and government and emergency management agencies at all levels of government

throughout the disaster and events (Khan et al., 2014). With timely and effective

messaging, transparency and information access can increase through an evolving social

media network (Noji, 2011). The benefits of social media communication has allowed

for transparency and community involvement when disaster strikes.

Utilization of social media has provided a manner and means for the community

to become involved with their government and emergency management leaders. The use

of social media allows the community to not only receive information but to share

information and/or pictures that would be challenging to acquire (Khan et al., 2014).

Using Social media has become a new form of two-way communication that provides

instant information, pictures, and intelligence between the community and their

government leaders (Feldman, 2015; Noji, 2011). Feldman (2015) further stated that the

use of social media is an effective tool for two-way communication when disasters

impact a large geographical area. The community and stakeholders, through the use of

social media, are a useful source of information about damage, road closures, detours,

and travel related information in specific areas as public safety agencies cannot be the

eyes and ears across the entire disaster impacted area (Noji, 2011). Social media use

involving the community, during disasters and large-scale events, have reshaped

government and emergency management communication techniques.

Utilizing technology has the ability to reshape the culture of disaster and event

communications (Stanleigh, 2011). Using social media has the ability to influence

decision-making as the community provides information and/or pictures about impacted

areas due to hurricane damage or traffic congestion from an event (Eisenman et al.,

2007). As Jacobs (2016) stated, social media was not intended to be used as a warning

system for government agencies. The technology within social media has changed the

culture of communication between government leaders, emergency management officials,

the community, and stakeholders in order to save lives and preserve property. The

application of social media has proven to be an effective and efficient communication

tool for disasters and events in the greater Houston-Galveston, TX region. The flow of

information, intelligence, efficiency, and effectiveness of social media are advantages of

using social media to bolster disaster and event communication (Houston et al., 2014).

The implementation of social media has proven to be valuable tool for sharing

information to the community, and a tool for the community to share with government

leaders, emergency management officials, and within their community (Haddow et al.,

2014). The collaboration between the government, emergency management, community,

and stakeholders through the use of social media during disasters and large events in the

greater Houston-Galveston, TX region will strengthen communication, information

sharing, transparency, and the bonds of each community in times of need.

Collaboration

Richey (2010) stated that technology is a tool that increases collaboration with the

community. The benefits of using social media technology in collaborating with the

community and stake-holders allows for timely, effective, and efficient information

sharing and dissemination (Jacobs, 2016). Collaboration allows for community

involvement and provides a sense of inclusion though social media technology (Khan et

al., 2014). The implementation of social media technology has increased the value in the

community through collaboration efforts by all levels of government, emergency

management officials, community members, and stakeholders in the greater

HoustonGalveston, TX region.

When community members and stakeholders are able to communicate with

government leaders and emergency managers using social media prior to, during, and

following a disaster or event positive outcomes can prevail. With community and

stakeholder involvement during disasters and events there is more of an increase in public

value than when government and emergency management agencies are working alone

(United States Government Accounting Office, n.d.). The application of social media is

an avenue for collaboration between the government leaders and emergency managers

where message collaboration can take place in an effort to save lives and property. When

collaboration is encouraged there is a dialogue between the community and government

rather than a one dimensional approach that has previously been used (Feldman et al.,

2015).

Collaboration with the community using social media as communication has

numerous benefits when disaster strikes or a large event takes place in the greater

Houston-Galveston, TX region. When a disaster strikes or a large-scale event alters the

day to day life of the community there is a demand for information by the community and

stakeholders from government leaders and emergency management officials. Through

collaboration with social media the community, stakeholders, government leaders and

emergency management officials have the ability to supply each other collectively and

collaboratively in becoming a network of information for effective response, recovery,

and general information (i.e. traffic closures, flooded streets, alternate routes, etc.) to

accomplish the goal of life and property safety (Steelman et al., 2014). Collaborative

social media communication accomplishes the supply and demand from those in the

community and leaders with a pulse of the disaster or event.

Disasters and events continuously change through their lifecycle, and there is a

balance within the lifecycle when collaboration takes place through the sharing of

information through social media (Steelman et al., 2014). Collaboration through the use

of social media includes the community and stake holders in the decision making with the

government leaders and emergency management officials. As social media is used more

during disasters and large events communities are becoming more resilient. The use of

social media has bridged the gap between government, emergency management, the

community, and stakeholders to collaborate information from previous modes of

communication. When social media is used during disasters and large-scale events it

brings the whole community and government together where the good in people shine

(Whitney & Cooperrider, n.d.).

Utilizing Social media allows for a two-way communication means which

embodies collaboration with the community and stakeholders. This two-way

communication collaboration increases the sharing of information that results in an

enormous benefit for all parties involved (Khan et al., 2014). Community members and

stakeholders, prior to the use of social media, were information consumers prior to and

during a disaster. Through collaborative efforts, with social media usage, the previous

information consumers have now become beneficial information sources not only to

government and emergency management, but to one another (Noji, 2011).

When collaboration takes place between all that are affected by disasters and

large-scale events sincerity, distribution, and trust are given and received (Khan et al.,

2014). When government leaders and emergency management officials take the time to

invest in social media usage and collaborate with the community a trust is built by all that

participate (Stich & Miller, 2008). As collaboration takes place, the community will

engender trust in their government leaders and emergency management officials that will

build future positive relationships. Trust is gained progressively and through

collaborative efforts and is essential when lives and property are at stake. As trust is built

it can also be lost swiftly (Alexander & Nank, 2009). Trust in government leaders and

emergency management officials can be built and strengthened when collaborative

communication efforts are made when disasters strikes. Through collaborative

communication, using social media, during disasters and events, trust, openness, and

involvement has the ability to take place in the greater Houston-Galveston, TX region by

all those who participate.

Summary and Conclusion

In Chapter 2, I discussed the literature review strategy for this study. In this

chapter, I reviewed the literature search strategy; theoretical framework; literature review

related to communication, social media, and collaboration during disasters and largescale

events. There are numerous articles that focus on communication and the use of social

media. What is missing with the previous research is the community’s use of social

media during disasters and events. In the literature review, I provided numerous strengths

in communication and social media usage with their essential approach to the use of

social media as a communication method and means. Houston et al., (2014) discussed

the gap within the research as to who uses social media and what platforms are used

during disasters and events for effective communication. What remains to be studied is

what social media platforms are used to gather the most information from and to the

government leaders and emergency management officials, and what information the

community is seeking.

All the reviewed literature within this study address how social media can be used

as a two-way form of communication and information collaboration tool between the

government leaders and emergency management officials. The justification from the

literature is ultimately to provide an avenue of information sharing so that the community

and stakeholders lives can and will be saved and reduce the amount of property damage.

In this chapter, I discussed the literature research strategies that I used for the

literature review and where the literature came from. The theoretical framework was

expanded in how I used it in this study. The chapter concluded with the literature review

in the sections of communication, social media, and collaboration. The information

within this chapter help me lay the groundwork for the method of study that is discussed

in Chapter 3.

Chapter 3: Research Method

Introduction

The purpose of this qualitative study was to address the perceived use of social

media as a source of detailed information from government officials during natural or

human caused disasters and/or large-scale planned events. As Medaglia and Zheng

(2017) mentioned, previous research has only focused on the government’s use of social

media and not the public’s interaction with government agencies and the collaboration

through social media. Social media has the ability to advance disaster communication to

communities for natural and human caused disasters (Houston et al., 2014). As social

media is a relatively new manner of information dissemination, through this study, I was

able to bridge the communication gap between the community and government officials

and emergency managers through social media.

The current methods of information dissemination are reactive in nature which

has the potential to place communities in harm’s way by not providing adequate

information prior to a disaster incident (Khan et al., 2014; National Hurricane Center,

n.d.). Through collaborative efforts, information that is provided to the community

members and stakeholders prior to and during a disaster has the ability to them save lives

and/or property.

In Chapter 3 I explain the research design and rational for this study to include

describing central concepts, research tradition and approach, and rationale. I also

describe the role of the researcher, provide a description of personal and professional

relationships, any researcher bias, and research ethical issues. In addition, I detail the

qualitative methodology used in the study. I discuss how participants were selected,

interview instrumentation, data collection procedures, and the data analysis plan. Issues

of researcher trustworthiness are discussed, which includes credibility, transferability,

dependability, confirmability and ethical procedures. In conclusion, I detail ethical

procedures of participant agreements and their treatment.

Research Design and Rationale

The research questions for this qualitative study are the following:

RQ1: What information from government agencies and emergency management

officials do community members and stake-holders perceive to be the most critical to

receive via social media prior to and during a disaster incident or large-scale event?

RQ2: Which social media platform(s) would citizens be more willing to follow

from emergency management officials during a disaster incident?

RQ3: How does the community perceive that government agencies and

emergency management official can better collaborate with them?

The central concept of this study was to identify what the community and

stakeholders perceive to the be the most useful information shared via social media

between government leaders, emergency management officials, the community, and

stakeholders in the greater Houston-Galveston, TX region as it relates to disasters and

large-scale events. As social media is used more frequently, it is increasing in use in the

field of emergency management (Arellano, 2013). Social media has the ability to become

a major instrument in emergency management due to its unique characteristic of two-way

communication (Takahashi, 2015). Because of this, social media use has the ability to

provide more accurate information to specific sections of the area and not just generalized

information as traditional media has done in the past.

The transformative theoretical framework was chosen for this study due to its

capability of providing an active voice for the community and stakeholders on how

information can be specific to their areas. This can affect social media policy changes in

the greater Houston-Galveston, TX region. Previously stated by Houston et al. (2014),

mass media has characteristically been a one-way method of communication for large

metropolitan areas. In this study, I use a generic qualitative inquiry with a semi

structured interview method.

The generic qualitative inquiry method, with the open-ended interview questions,

can assist in developing new or updating the current policies and improve emergency

management programs (Patton, 2015). I chose this method to find out what social media

platform(s) the community and stake holders are using most often. This is to ensure that

there is a collaboration between the community and officials prior to, during, and

following a disaster or large-scale event.

As social media has unique characteristics and is gaining popularity, using generic

qualitative inquiry provided me with the type of information the community and

stakeholders seek from government officials and emergency management officials, which

social media platform to monitor during the disaster or event, and how to better

collaborate with one another. Social media use has opened up limitless possibilities for

communication to and from governments and the communities (Khan et al., 2014). In

this study, I focused on the information, platforms, and the collaborative efforts between

the parties. Social media is a modern information sharing tool that is growing each year

(Phillips, 2016). Additionally, social media use is expanding following each disaster and

through generic qualitative inquiry information can be gained to better use social media

for future disasters (Luna & Pennock, 2018).

Role of the Researcher

The role of the researcher is very important in collecting information while

conducting qualitative research (Creswell, 2013). In this study I was a nonparticipant

observer. Due to my limited personal social media use, I felt the role of an observer was

the best course of action for this study. I collected data from the responses to the

interview questions, and if the study participant wanted to show me an example of how

information could be shared I also recorded that data.

My relationship with the study participants was limited. I had no personal or

professional relationship with the participants. I did not use my position as a local

government employee to gain research participants or influence their participation in my

study. The participants did not have any contact with me, and I think this was an

advantage to the study, as the information did not have a researcher/participant history

and/or a bias. As participants were strangers, there was a reduced bias that could alter the

study outcome.

I randomly selected individuals to participate in this study that have lived in the

greater Houston-Galveston, TX region for Hurricane Ike, September 2008, through

Hurricane Harvey, August 2017. I introduced myself and the study that I was conducting

and provided them with a flyer detailing the study. Upon their approval to participate, I

provided them with the participant admonishment form. I chose individuals that have

lived through both disasters as social media was used for both large-scale disasters, and

there has been substantial growth of social media between the two disasters and

largescale events between the aforementioned dates as well.

I worked with my study participants on a location that they felt comfortable with

for an interview. I provided the study participants with an outline and a consent form that

addressed the reason for the study to gain their trust and authority to participate. I

protected participants identity when they preferred for me to do so, as there are numerous

social media outlets used that could reveal who the participants were and I wanted to

protect from any negative backlash for their participation in my study.

Methodology

The geographic area of study is made up of numerous cities and counties in the

greater Houston-Galveston, TX region. I limited the study to the cities of Houston,

Pasadena, and Galveston, Texas, which are within Harris County and Galveston County

with one participant residing in Ft. Bend County. I selected these cities due to these areas

having the greatest probability of being impacted by a no-notice disaster or large-scale

event. Participants ranged from all three cities and within the unincorporated areas of

Harris and Galveston Counties. Participants needed to have resided in the region prior to

Hurricane Ike (2008) through Hurricane Harvey (2017) disasters. The participants’ ages

ranged from 18 to 80 years of age. Participants also ranged in gender, ethnicity, and

socioeconomic status.

I used a combination of purposeful and snowball sampling techniques to selected

participants. Purposeful sampling was used to gather information from the participant

who have lived through the aforementioned disasters. Additionally, I used snowball

sampling to locate my study sample population from a previous participant that were

willing to provide information on social media collaboration during the COVID-19

pandemic . Furthermore, I asked the participants if they used any social media as a

means to gather local or regional information, and if they wanted to participate in study

on how to better collaborate with government officials and emergency management

officials during disasters and large-scale planned events. I requested that participants had

previously used and currently use social media, but I did not need to know how much in

exact detail.

As the greater Houston-Galveston, TX region is geographically vast with a

multitude of cultures within the region, I located study participants in person at various

businesses, food and beverage establishments, and from large retail businesses in order to

obtain a wide range of ages and ethnic groups for my sample population. Once I

introduced myself to the individual, I asked if they would like to participate in this study

on social media communication as it pertains to disasters and large-scale events. Once

the individual agreed to participate, I provided the participant with the participant

agreement form and had them fill it out. Once the participant agreement had been

completed, I began the interview. The participant interview took approximately 10 to 20

minutes to complete in order to obtain all the information for the research questions.

Although I had planned on a sample size of 10 - 15, I ended up only interviewing

eight participants due to reaching data saturation. Once I achieved saturation and found

out which social media platforms the representative sample size used to gain local and

regional information; it is at that point I began to analyze the obtained data and apply the

information to my research questions. Purposeful sampling was used to get an in-depth

understanding of how the government officials and emergency management officials can

better use social media in a collaborative effort with the community members and

stakeholders. (Patton, 2015). Additional participants would have been added to the

sample to verify whether any new information given by a participant could be

corroborated. I used face-to-face interviews with the instrumentation limited to digital

audio recording devices for this study.

Instrumentation

The instrumentation for data collection was a digital audio recorder, interview

questions, observation sheet, and notes. I used a digital audio recording device as the

primary data collection device. I also used an observation sheet and notes to document

any actions and/or non-verbal clues that the digital recorder could not pick up.

Due to my professional career, I have used digital audio recording devices for

criminal investigations and am very familiar with their set up and function. I used two

recording devices during all interviews so that if one device had a malfunction (i.e.

battery died or storage space full) the information would be obtained with the second

audio recording device. Both recorders have a key lock button so that if the device was

touched the recording would continue without any interruption of data collection.

I developed the study questions for this research using my personal experience

with multiple disasters and large-scale events, not only participating in but developing

after action reports for disasters and events, communication. As a public safety official, I

have overheard the community and stakeholders in the greater Houston-Galveston, TX

region discuss how information was not shared or was confusing when provided by

government and emergency management officials. I developed the research questions in

such a way as to assist the government and emergency management officials in the

information and method of communication the community and stakeholders seek pre,

during, and post disaster or large-scale event. See Appendix for interview questions.

I analyzed and then dictated the data provided by each interviewee. I had

contemplated using a third party to dictate the interviews from the audio recording

devices for ease of time, but after some thought I decided against this as I did not want

any information summarized or anything left out. Since I have dictated numerous

interviews in the past I was comfortable with my ability to type the interviews as I was

able to document themes. Therefore, I did not use outside dictation or software for

transcribing of the interviews.

Discrepant information was documented in Chapter 5 within the interpretations of

the findings. If there was any discrepant information it was not excluded but used in the

findings and inquired more about during the interviews. Although information may be

discrepant, I did not exclude it from the study as it can provide a new or different train of

thought as to how social media can be used for information dissemination during a

disaster or large-scale event in the greater Houston-Galveston, TX region. There was a

potential for issues of trustworthiness of the information gained by conducting the study,

especially if there was any discrepant responses, and they were handled accordingly.

Once the data were gathered from the participants and recorded they were

analyzed. The findings within the interviews told me, as the researcher, what social

media platform(s) the community and stakeholders use during a disaster incident or

largescale event, what information emergency management agencies can provide to the

community during those incidents or events, and effective community collaboration with

emergency management and government officials. The analysis also helped me gain new

ideas, goals, or information that the community would like to know from the government

officials prior, during, and following a disaster. The information was arranged into

themes and categories to show a pattern of sought after platform and information.

The analysis of the information was used to make sense of the information

gathered during the interviews and the research questions. Patton (2015) stated that this

analysis begins while conducting the interviews to make sense of what the participants

were seeking and how they could contribute information during disasters. I analyzed the

data, developed patterns and themes, and then I had made sense of the information. . In

conclusion, the data from the interviews were fairly represented to government officials

with what the community sought, as well as reveal my purpose of this study to build a

stronger collaboration between community and government officials.

Issues with Trustworthiness

I used the information gleaned from this study to inform government officials and

emergency management officials on the needs of a level trustworthiness of the

information from the participants and their information. According to Patton (2015), the

credibility and understandings will greatly depend upon the trustworthiness with research

participants. Rapport building techniques such as spending time to get to know my

participants, contributed and built trustworthiness and I was able to gain information on

how social media could be used as a more collaborative tool within the greater

HoustonGalveston, TX region. Trustworthiness can be achieved through credibility,

transferability, dependability, and confirmability.

This study was one of openness without any attempt to prove which social media

platform is better than another, or to manipulate any findings from the interviews. An

open and honest study is one that provides a clear description of the information

collection and analysis of obtained information (Nowell et al., 2017). I did not alter the

responses to the interview and open-ended questions in an effort to guide the study in any

particular way. I hold myself to a high level of respect and honesty within my daily work

as a local government employee, and that has transferred to my academic studies and

research; therefore there was not any attempt to sway the study. ; The data from this study

can ultimately be used to save lives and property during disasters. Another quality of

credibility within qualitative research is reflexivity.

Reflexivity of the research presented my scholarly meticulousness to the

participants within this study. By being involved with the study, and actively listening

and observing I was able to address any concerns that presented itself during the study in

order to avoid any biasness. I looked for themes and avoided rigorism as the study

progressed so as not to become narrow-minded within my study and the information

provided by the participants.. Furthermore, I continued to reflect on the information that

was provided and categorized the information through thematic analysis that was relevant

to this study for the interpretations of the findings in Chapter 5 as referred to in Norwell

et al. (2017). Transferability is another area of trustworthiness that was taken into

consideration as the study evolved.

There was a concern for transferability from participants. They could have

hesitated to provide adequate information or descriptions of what was being studied in

this study. This issue could be due to the lack of government providing accurate

information for specific areas in the greater Houston-Galveston, TX region and the

participant not thinking that the government officials or emergency management officials

would care about what they had to say. These concerns were suppressed by allowing the

participant to remain anonymous during the interview. By remaining anonymous there

was the chance for participants to provide a full description of which social media

platform, information, and how to collaborate with the officials and the community to

better prepare, respond and recover from disasters and to provide the utmost insight to

yield useful results (Nowell et al., 2017). The participants were selected due to their

residence history in the greater Houston-Galveston, TX region from September 2008 to

the present, and for their experience in how government officials and emergency

management officials have reacted to previous disasters and planned events. The next

issue of trustworthiness was dependability within the research.

The research questions offered a guideline of what platform, information, and

how the community/stakeholders can collaborate with government and emergency

management officials. Ensuring consistency with each participant supported the

dependability of the information gained from each participant. Observation sheets and

detailed notes backed the information provided by each participant to further strengthen

the dependability of the data. The final issue of trustworthiness was confirmability within

this study.

Confirmability was addressed in numerous ways for this study. As this study will

be presented to government officials and emergency management officials in the greater

Houston-Galveston, TX region; the participants were specifically selected due to their

history in the region within the allotted timeframe due to the numerous natural and

human caused disasters as well as the multitude of large-scale, planned events. Another

way that confirmability was addressed was if there were any biases that were discovered

through the interviews and have the participant further explain their reasons for bias to a

particular social media platform over others. A final manner of confirmability within the

study was by relaying the sincerity that I have for this study in order to collaboratively

save the lives of our community members and stakeholders through the use of social

media prior to, during, and after disasters. Through these items of trustworthiness, this

study is rich of information for local officials, and community members during disasters,

and used to update or develop new policies. This can be done through an exhaustive

manner to ensure adequate information is gained from the study participants (Nowell et

al., 2017).

Ethical Procedures

Upon Walden University Institutional Review Board (IRB) review and approval

for this study, I selected the participants as previously mentioned. The greatest concern

throughout the study was the treatment of the participants. Informed consent agreements

were signed by each participant prior to their interviews and properly stored with the

researcher. Each participant was offered confidentiality and they were assigned a number

throughout the study. The interviews were conducted in-person and the locations were

agreed upon by the participant and interviewer. Each participant was treated with

honesty, fairness, and ethically so that the most useful and honest information could be

obtained by them for this study. If a participant requested to be removed from the study

that request was granted and a replacement interview was conducted. All of that

participant’s information was removed from the study, and their involvement was

thanked. Furthermore, the treatment of the information was with the utmost safety and

security.

The interviews were recorded on digital audio recording devices, one primary and

one secondary, along with handwritten notes of the interviews that were taken during and

following the interviews. Following the interviews, the recording were stored on an

external hard drive and backed up on a thumb drive that is stored at the researcher’s

residence in a safe. The data are only accessed by the researcher within his residence.

The data are stored there and no plans for its destruction within five years as this study

can be used in the future for other research in the Houston-Galveston, TX region. There

were no conflicts of interest between the researcher, their employment, and having a

professional relationship with Public Information Officers in the region as well.

Summary

In this chapter, I focused on the methodology for this study on the use of social

media as it pertains to disasters in the greater Houston-Galveston, TX region. This

chapter began with the purpose for the study and the research questions. Furthermore, in

this chapter, I went on to explain in detail the research design and rationale to include the

central concepts, research tradition and why, and transitioned into the role of the

researcher. The role of the researcher described how I, as the researcher, conducted my

interviews and became an observer of the study. Moving into the methodology I

described the population to be studied, their criterion, and how they were selected. I

concluded with issues of trustworthiness of the gathered information such as credibility,

transferability, dependability, confirmability, and to finalize the chapter ethical

procedures of how I gained access to the participants and their treatment.

Chapter 4: The Research

Introduction

Disasters of all types can affect the greater Houston-Galveston, TX region.

Disasters can be human caused from intentional acts such as terrorist attack, natural as in

hurricanes/flooding, or accidental in nature which include individual error at a

petrochemical facility. Furthermore, there are a number of largescale, planned events that

also impact the communities in the greater Houston-Galveston, TX region. In this study,

I determined which social media platforms are most effective to use in terms of

information dissemination during disaster incident and planned event management in the

greater Houston-Galveston, TX region.

As disasters continue to impact the daily functions of a community, social media

has become a more widely used information sharing platform for emergency management

officials and the community to save lives and property (Huder, 2012; Phillips, 2016).

When a disaster or event impacts the greater Houston-Galveston, TX region, government

officials and emergency management officials may inform the community of the type and

scope of the disaster incident in order to prepare for or respond to the incident or event.

Through data collection and data analysis, I determined which social media platform is

most effective in information sharing during disasters and planned events.

The research questions for this study focused on what information the participants

sought prior to, during, and following a disaster or a large, planned event, what social

media platform(s) the participants used, and which platform(s) government and

emergency management officials should use. Participants sought collaboration avenues

and dialogue with those leaders and officials in relation to disasters and events. My focus

with the research questions was too look at how the community members use social

media, and how they are willing to collaborate to have buy-in for helping their

community through a disaster. Social media has become an avenue of effective and

resourceful communication during disasters that will continue to grow (Arellano, 2013;

Pressman and Schnieder, 2009).

Vital information is needed during a disaster and the use of various social media

platforms is increasing with each disaster and large event. The use of social media has

the ability to extend government services and have citizen participation to collaborate

information between the government officials and the community (Khan et al., 2014). At

the end of this study, I concluded which social media platforms are most effective during

disaster incidents and large events.

In Chapter 4, I first discuss the setting and the demographics of the study that I

conducted. Following that, I discuss the data collection, data analysis and the evidence of

trustworthiness for the study. The chapter concludes with the results of the study and the

summary of the chapter.

Setting

I chose the Southeast region of Texas, encompassing the cities of Houston and

Galveston, and the surrounding unincorporated areas of Harris, Galveston, and Ft. Bend

Counties as the geographic area for this study. The totality of the area varies

geographically and in population, with a large metropolitan city, as well as smaller

municipalities throughout the region. I chose this region due to its close proximity to the

Gulf of Mexico for tropical storms and hurricanes, the Port of Houston and the

petrochemical facilities that line the port, and the large, planned events within the region

throughout the calendar year. With the enormous population of the region and the

diversity of the residents and stakeholders, I chose this region in order to obtain what

social media messages and platforms participants sought information form government

and emergency management officials during disasters and events.

I also chose the Southeast Texas region because of the large population influx that

has been taken place over the last 5 years, and the continuation of growth within the

region. The participants provided information that not only pertained to their personal

lives but also for their employer/organization. The region is home to numerous

worldwide petrochemical corporations and other Fortune 500 companies, and with this

study I provided insight into how to use social media to communicate to their friends and

family, as well as their customers and co-workers. The participants of the study all had

input on what messages they would like, and on what platform(s), for disaster related

messages, as disasters had impacted every participant in a different way due to the vast

geography of the greater Houston-Galveston, TX region. Each participant had a personal

experience relevant to the study; from flooding, evacuation, power outages for numerous

days, or a direct impact from a hurricane. Those personal experiences had an influence

on their answers to the interviews.

Demographics

The participant demographics of this study represented the whole community for

the greater Houston-Galveston, TX region. As I conducted random sampling of

participants, I ensured that the participants would be a representative of the population of

the region. When I sought out my participants for the study, I made sure that I had

representation from the entire geographic region of study and not only the City of

Houston, the City of Galveston, and the more populated area of Harris County, TX.

Using random sampling I was able to meticulously identify persons that I approached for

the study so that I was able to gather information from all areas and genders of the region.

I interviewed eight community and stakeholders members within the geographic area of

the study. The participants were both male and female. I made sure that the participants

had a range in age, which ranged from their 30s to their 70s for this study. Of the

participants, there were two men and six women that participated in this study. A further

breakdown of the participant demographics for the study is that there were two Hispanics

and six Caucasian participants. All participants met the criteria that were outlined in

Chapter 3. The demographics of the study were a fair representation of the region by age,

gender, location, and use of social media.

Data Collection

Upon obtaining approval form the Walden University IRB (reference #08-19-

210549787), I began the process of pursuing study participants for this study. Due to the

large geographic area of the greater Houston-Galveston, TX region, I wanted to make

sure that I had participants from the three larger counties, the municipalities, and of the

age spectrum aforementioned in Chapter 3. The interviews of the participants took

longer than I had anticipated due to the region returning to work and various other

restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I provided each participant with a consent

form prior to their interview that was signed by them and myself.

I conducted the interviews using a structured set of questions. I did not deviate

from the questions as I wanted to make sure that I was able to gather information in the

same way from each participant, and to reduce any chance of not obtaining information

for the three research questions. The interviews consisted of 15 questions from a

template that I developed previously. The interviews ranged in time from 7 to 15 minutes

after the initial rapport building time took place. I conducted the interviews within an

office building in downtown Houston, TX, outside of an office building in downtown

Houston, TX, a participant’s place of business, and within their residences. There were

no variations in the data collection from what was presented in Chapter 3.

I categorized the interview questions to gather information for three areas of study

as it pertained to social media from the community member’s perspective. The categories

were: (a) what information would you like to know about the disaster/event, (b) what

social media platform(s) do you obtain disaster/event information from, and (c) how can

government and emergency management officials collaborate with the community. These

categories were meticulously thought of so that the study can help provide government

and emergency management officials in how the community and stakeholders seek

information when there is an imminent disaster, natural or man-made, or a large, planned

event that has the potential to disrupt their daily lives for a period of time.

Data Analysis

The data were analyzed upon completion of the participant interviews using the

descriptive research method for this study. According to Lambert and Lambert (2012),

descriptive research analysis is the summary of obtained information through interviews

during a study for a/an specific event(s). Furthermore, descriptive research analysis is

used to describe a phenomenon (disaster or planned event), and the unique characteristics

to obtain a more in-depth understanding of the event(s). This type of analysis can

interpret any repetitive themes and concepts discovered during the study (Nassaji, 2015).

By following this model there were specific tasks that took place during the study.

Following the descriptive research analysis model, I took audio recordings that

were saved to an external hard drive and on my laptop, and I played the interviews

individually as I transcribed the interviews in Microsoft Word. I chose to transcribe the

interviews myself and not use a computer program so that I would not miss anything that

a participant may have said due to some of the interviews having background noises. I

chose to manually transcribe the interviews due to my more than 13 years of experience

in public safety and transcribing numerous interviews. Additionally, a written interview

provided me the chance to make additional notes on the page of notes I took for each

participant’s interview.

The taking of additional notes while transcribing the interviews ensured accuracy

of the information that the participant was providing. With the transcription, I was able to

provide a detailed all-inclusive summarization of a disaster or planned event for the

individual. There were a few instances where the audio recording was inaudible and

therefore the data are not exact. When the interview was inaudible, I listened to the

recording a few times and determined that the information obtained prior to the inaudible

recording did not alter the study outcome. At the conclusion of transcribing the

interviews I was able to cross-reference the notes and document any themes and

categories. I was meticulous about the accuracy of the information so as not to create any

false bias or unintentional grouping of information when taking notes during transcription

of the interviews.

There were multiple categories and themes that resulted from the study. A

category from the study is what information the government leaders and emergency

management officials provide the public. The themes that emerged from this category

were facts, road closures, and maps/pictures and other visual aids. Participant 3 stated

“people don’t read,” and Participant 4 specified that maps or pictures “would beneficial”

when sending a message. Another theme was road closures. Participant 2 wanted to

know which roads are closed in the area where their office conducts business, and

Participant 5 mentioned that they would like to know if there would be any pre- and

postdisaster road closures in any effected areas. A final theme from this category was that

the participants wanted to know the facts. Participants revealed that they sought the facts

of the disaster and a timeline of the impending disaster.

Another category that was developed in this study was what social media

platform(s) are to be used before, during, and after a disaster and/or large event. All

participants are users of social media daily for various reasons such as news, family,

friends, etc. Participant 3 stated “I use social media every day for everything.” The main

theme for this category was that the participants use Facebook and Instagram with some

using Twitter, TikTok, and Whatsapp. ”I use Facebook and Instagram to get information

from everywhere” Participant 8 stated. Each participant would like the government and

emergency management to use Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to share information.

As Participant 3 stated “if not one, then use the other” when discussing which platform to

use in times of distress.

The final category of this study was how to best collaborate with community.

The main theme for this category that the participants mentioned was dialogue.

Participant 7 stated that “dialogue is important.” Participant 6 was the only one who

identified that “the messages should be from the government to the citizens because not

everything is easy.” Additionally, the participants were an even split on if they would

post to government or emergency management social media page prior to this study.

Participant 8 stated, “I would share information with the government leaders” when

asked about sharing information on government agency social media page. Furthermore,

Participant 1 mentioned “I have not posted on a page before and there is nothing that I

would not.” The final theme that was developed is that the participants were in

agreement about doing a virtual town hall meeting to gain buy-in or inclusion in planning

for the next disaster through social media or other technological avenue. In reference to a

town hall meeting for information collaboration as it relates to disasters and planned

events, Participant 2 stated, “It could be. The more input you get.” With the categories

and themes for this study, I emphasize the importance of social media messaging for

disasters and events and how the community and stakeholders can achieve involvement

when planning for the next disaster.

The analysis of the information took more time than I anticipated. I processed the

information and discarded any irrelevant information from the study. I then identified

themes and categories, which are discussed in detail in the results section of this chapter.

I took the audio recordings and detailed notes with the approach of trustworthiness of the

information and the study participants at all times throughout the study.

Evidence of Trustworthiness

As discussed in Chapter 3, the trustworthiness of this study was beneficial

information to government and emergency management officials and the greater

Houston-Galveston, TX community before, during, and after disasters to update and/or

develop new policies as it pertains to social media messaging in the greater

HoustonGalveston, TX region. The information gathered from this study can be used to

inform government officials and emergency management officials on the needs of a level

trustworthiness and collaboration of the information from the study participants. As

Patton (2015) mentioned, the credibility and understandings greatly depends upon the

trustworthiness with study participants. Through rapport building and a passion for

serving the community and stakeholders of the study area I built a level of trustworthiness

with the participants of this study from the onset. There are multiple avenues in which

trustworthiness can be attained. For this study credibility, transferability, dependability,

and confirmability were the most effective.

The first area of trustworthiness for this study was credibility. I achieved

credibility through documenting detailed notes during and following the interview of

each participant. Detailed notes that are taken during the interview process provide a

description of the participants’ answers and added value to the study (Creswell, 2013).

Through rapport building prior to interviews a sense of trust is built that forms a short

social relationship that adds to credibility (Janesick, 2011). I never attempted to sway or

manipulate any participant towards one or another social media platform during the

interviews. After the interviews no participant showed or expressed any interest in

observing the notes that I took during the interview.

Transferability of this study can be applied to other areas of the State of Texas and

the United States of America, as there are disasters and events that take place across the

state and the country (Amy Zugner, personal communication, January 8, 2022). I was

able to reflect on the information provided and make sure the information and notes are

detailed to develop categories and themes. As a public safety official, I was able to

reflect on the information provided and thought about how the information can be applied

to other areas of the country to assist my professional network as it pertains to future

disasters and planned events. Furthermore, transferability was accomplished through

each participant wanting to remain anonymous for the study. Although each participant

signed their name on the consent form, all participants requested to remain anonymous at

the end of the interviews.

I achieved dependability through consistent notes for each research question, and

the storage of the digital audio recording of the interview. I took notes during the

interview in the possibility that the digital recorders failed. This allowed me to look at the

information post-interview in a more strategic mindset as outlined in Patton (2015). I

have taken detailed notes in my professional role, and am confident in accurately

detailing information so that categories and themes were developed following the

interviews.

I attained confirmability through the use of purposeful sampling. The participants

spoke about their experiences, of participants that could annotate their experiences that

had resided in the greater Houston-Galveston, TX region beginning in September 2008

until the present time. I made sure that I did not present any biases towards one social

media platform from another to the participants. I worded my research questions to

encourage honest and personal use type answers from the participants. Additionally, I

safeguarded that the research questions did not have any unintentional bias in how they

were worded. I took extensive time to develop the research questions and the interview

questions so that to avoid any biasness toward one social media platform or what

information was gathered from the study participants. I created research questions that

were generic and not leading towards one or more social media platforms. This method

supports O’Sullivan et al. (2008), that the generalized questions will have a greater

representation of the whole community and not a narrowed scope study demographic. I

carefully crafted the questions so that the participants would provide an unbiased or

platform favoritism related answer. There was extensive emphasis on trustworthiness of

the study to ensure that there was adequate representation of the information by the

participants and the safety of the information provided during this study. The consent

form was very detailed about the study and the careful handling of the information and

the participants, and this solidified the level of trustworthiness of the study. The

information gathered during the study was documented into different categories and

themes within the results section of this study.

Results

I conducted the study in the greater Houston-Galveston, TX region for multiple

reasons. The demographics are very diverse and the geographical layout is very vast in

size. I chose to do this area for the study for numerous reasons, with the main reasons are

to save lives of the diverse communities and global stakeholders that have business ties to

the region. In this qualitative study, I focused on 3 research questions. I developed the

answers provided by the participants 3 categories. From there 10 themes emerged from

the data that were collected. I have presented each category with the associated theme in

the following sections.

Figure 1

Disaster and Event Social Media Research Questions, Categories, and Themes

Research Questions Category Theme

RQ1 – Qualitative: What

information from government

agencies and emergency

management officials do

community members and

stake-holders perceive to be the

most critical to receive via

social media prior to and during

a disaster incident or large-

scale event?

Information by

government and

emergency

management will

provide

•Facts

•Road closures

•Maps/Pictures/Visuals

•Multiple languages

RQ2 – Qualitative: Which social

media platform(s) would

citizens be more willing to

follow from emergency

management officials during a

disaster incident?

Social media

platform(s) during

disasters and/or

planned events

•Platform(s)

•News and information

•Social media for government and

Emergency Management

RQ3 – Qualitative: How does the

community perceive that

government agencies and

emergency management

official can better collaborate

with them?

Collaboration with the

community

•Dialogue

•Posting to

Government/Emergency

Management Social Media

•Feedback and/or Planning

Information by Government and/or Emergency Management Officials

Facts

Each of the participants almost immediately stated that they wanted to only hear

the facts of the disaster incident. Every participant said that they did not want to hear any

opinions or speculations about what a disaster had on the possibility of traveling for

evacuations or of the severity of damage to the region. The participants also mentioned

that they wanted to know what kind of disaster will impact their area due to hurricanes,

tropical storms, adverse cold weather and extreme heat. For example, Participant 1

revealed “it would be helpful to have an idea of time estimate of when the disaster should

be expected. Not just the hit (hurricane landfall), but for how long maybe we should be

dealing with the event. That would help people prepare.” Echoing this, Participant 3

divulged that they wanted to know what the government leaders and emergency

management official are expecting from the impending disaster, and any contact numbers

for resources following any potential destruction caused by a disaster. Knowing the type

of disaster would help the participants determine if they would evacuate or remain in their

residences. Participant 8 supported this by saying “what kind of disaster we’re talking

about. Is it going to affect us in a physical way, or a monetary way? What kind of

preparations. I would need to know or prepare for.” This fact was important as the

majority of the study area has large and tall trees that could cause major damage and

severe bodily injury if the participant remained in their residence for a strong wind

incident or a hurricane. As Participant 7 mentioned “who’s exactly going to get hit. Who

is going to be affected? Um, what kind of things we can expect. Like when damage and

things like that” when notified of an impending disaster incident. The participants would

like to know if a weather incident is one of high humidity with below freezing

temperatures that may cause ice on the roadways over bayous. This fact will assist

commuters and stakeholders as there are a large population in the region that commute

great distances for work, and cross multiple bayous or smaller bodies of water that could

be dangerous during limited visibility. Following participants wanting only the facts of

the incident, the next thing requested were what roads may be closed.

Road Closures

Each participant wanted to know which roads were closed due to flooding or

debris making the road impassable. This information is important as there are a number

of pre-identified intersections or portions of roads in the greater Houston-Galveston, TX

region that are known to flood, and knowing this information ahead of time will assist the

community and stakeholders in safe evacuations or returning to their residences. Flooded

roadways are very common due to the large geographic area and minimal topography of

the study area. Having this knowledge afforded the participants to more accurately plan

getting to and from work or their businesses, and the ability to plan ahead if the

participant was on a shift at a hospital or in public safety. In reference to evacuations due

to hurricanes or tropical storms, Participant 4 mentioned that “if you (government or

emergency management official) know which roads are closed you won’t create more

traffic jams as people are trying to get out.” Another theme that was identified was that

of visual displays used by officials.

Maps/Pictures

Each participant mentioned that they would like to see a map or picture of the

disaster. Participant 6 stated that “images catch the eye” when government, emergency

management officials, and the media are talking about a disaster or an event. Each

participant stated that they would like to see maps or pictures as they could look at the

map or picture and make the best decision about the disaster for their family’s safety and

well-being. Participants felt as though they could get more information from maps and

pictures than from someone talking to them as the pictures could not be altered. The

maps and/or pictures would help the participants reduce their level of panic as they could

see the impact and how the disaster is moving closer to them. During a disaster, when

anxiety is elevated, a picture is easier to get a message across as people may not

understand or read messages by officials. The final theme for the first category is the use

of multiple languages.

Multiple Languages

All participants mentioned that messages need to be provided in multiple

languages due to the greater Houston-Galveston, TX region being a very culturally

diverse region. The interesting discovery with this theme was that not all the participants

spoke multiple languages. Every participant mentioned that there should be a minimum

of two languages, English and Spanish, for the messages by government and emergency

management officials. When asked if different languages would help, Participant 8

stated, “They must think about the demographics, YES!” This question was interesting

and the answer by the participants showed that each participant cared about their

neighbors and others when a disaster strikes. The care and thoughtfulness of strangers in

times of disaster and wanting to make sure that the whole community was informed

struck me when I was interviewing, transcribing, and developing this theme. The love

and care for complete strangers and putting others first when a disaster impacts a

community and prior to impact was very important to the participants.

This category of information by government leaders and/or emergency

management officials resulted in the participants wanting factual information along with

visual aids and in multiple languages prior to and during a disaster.

Social Media Platform(s) During Disasters and/or Planned Events.

Platforms

The theme of this category is which social media platform(s) the participants use.

Each of the participants mentioned that they use Facebook and Instagram on a daily basis.

It was interesting that immediately after asking which platform(s) the participants use

they responded with Facebook. When I asked what social media platforms they use,

Participant 5 stated, “Facebook. Really Facebook is all that I use.” The participants took

time to think of the platform that they use after Facebook. Instagram was the second

most mentioned social media platform used by participants. After Instagram the

participants ranged from using Twitter, WhatsApp, and TikTok social media platforms to

gather and share information or to check on family and friends. Participant 4 said, “I use

Nextdoor very very much,” this showed me that there is a range of secondary platforms

that the study participants use as sources of information and information sharing. With

the countless platforms available and the range of ages of the participants it was

interesting that there were not more platforms mentioned. Each participant had a

smartphone with them during the interview. This helped me conclude that the

participants have the ability to obtain or share information at a moment’s notice, but

selected to use Facebook and Instagram as their primary platform. The next theme for

social media platforms was news and information.

News and Information

When I asked the participants what they used social media for, the most stated

response was for news and information. Participant 7 mentioned that they went to their

social media platforms for current news and to see if there were any changes from a

previously reported incident or an update on a disaster. Some indicated that social media

provided information closer to real time than that of traditional television news media

sources. In reference to traditional news media, Participant 3 stated that “real news is

one-sided.” The participants also use social media to keep up with family and friends.

Furthermore, all the participants revealed that social media is an avenue to see what is

going on in regards to friends and family without having to talk to them or see them, or

for those friends and family members who do not live close. The final theme for this

category is what platforms government and emergency management should use.

Social Media for Government and Emergency Management.

When asked about what social media platforms that government and emergency

management officials should use the participants provided a few different platforms and

explanations to the platforms they mention. These are the top three platforms that the

participants used: Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Some of the participants mentioned

the other aforementioned platforms, and Participant 5 pointed out that government

officials should use, “whatever platform will reach the community.” Participant 4 stated,

“All of them, when giving correct information” about disasters. This theme focused on

three main social media platforms and the participants again thought about the whole

community and wanted to ensure that everyone was getting adequate and accurate

information from official. The final category and theme discuss collaboration between

government and emergency management officials and the community.

Collaboration with the Community

Dialogue

When discussing collaboration between government and citizen the theme of

dialogue emerged. Each participant mentioned that there must be a dialogue between the

government or emergency management officials and the community. When asked about

collaboration between citizen and government, Participant 7 stated, “I think a dialogue.

That’s always important.” Additionally, Participant 6 spoke about how the government

can relay mass notifications and that the citizens have the ability to add to the notification

with real time information or pictures. When there is a dialogue with the government or

emergency management officials the community feels included in sharing information,

and feels as though they are heard by the officials. “I think that would be really effective.

Especially because even if you have a large; those meetings or conference with large

participants; you can still get information from individual focus in the chats” Participant 1

mentioned. “I think that getting feedback from the community is never a bad thing”

stated Participant 3 about communities and government or emergency management

officials working together. When the citizens feel included and that their voices are heard

it builds trust in the government and emergency management officials in those critical

moments (United States Office of Government Ethics, 2000). Following dialogue I asked

questions regarding if a participant had posted on a government or emergency

management official’s social media.

Posting to Government/Emergency Management Social Media.

This theme of posting to a government or emergency management official’s social

media had not been identified by all participants. Not all participants have posted on a

government or emergency management officials social media prior to this study. I asked

those who had posted to a governments social media platform if there was any response

and only three had posted with two receiving responses. The participants who had

received responses were active on social media on a daily basis. The participants who

have not posted on a government or emergency management officials social media said

that they will in the future if they feel the need to, or that they want to be more involved.

The final theme for this study was future collaborative efforts.

Feedback and/or Planning

When asked about providing information, flooded roadways or traffic conditions,

for future disasters or planned events all participants mentioned that they would. The

majority of the participants stated that they would participate in the use of Zoom for a

virtual town-hall style planning meeting to assist with government and emergency

management for future disaster and event planning. The opportunity to use Zoom

anywhere is the reason that the participants are more likely to join that avenue of a

townhall versus an in-person type. The virtual setting allows the participants to be

anywhere and have the availability to offer feedback and planning ideas via spoken word

or via messages in the chat feature. All the participants mentioned that they would

provide feedback willingly when asked, if the information helps saved lives, their

property or that of the community. Participant 3 stated that, “feedback is never a bad

thing.” Others divulged that they are not willing to do it in person and feel more

comfortable behind a computer and keyboard. The participants were not hesitant to

provide feedback, it was only the manner in which the feedback was provided determined

if they would or would

not.

This study had three research questions where I asked fifteen interview questions

to my participants. I analyzed a combination of the research questions and the

participants’ response sand then put them into categories and themes for this study. At

the conclusion of this study the participants used social media for various reasons and

were willing to work with their local government and emergency management officials to

ensure that all parties are prepared for the next disaster.

Summary

In Chapter 4, the study of social media in the greater Houston-Galveston, TX

region was conducted with a person from each of the counties in the region and

representation of the two major municipalities. The participants were a good

exemplification of the demographics of the study area by age and gender. The interviews

were conducted in a safe and ethical manner, the answers analyzed, evidence of

trustworthiness, and concluded with the themes and topics from the interviews. Upon

completion of the interviews, the participants sought factual information, not historical

information, and they wanted maps and pictures to display the information. Furthermore,

the participants all use Facebook and Instagram for their main source of information and

to check on family and friends; also they wanted a dialogue with the government leaders

to feel included through in-person or online avenues. In Chapter 5, the interpretation of

the findings, any limitation, and future recommendations will be discussed.

Chapter 5: Discussion, Conclusions, and Recommendations

Introduction

The purpose of this qualitative study was to seek out what social media

platform(s), type of message(s) and collaborative efforts between government and

emergency management officials from the community’s perspective. There have been

countless studies and articles on the use of social media, but the focus of this study was

from the community member’s perspective and the information that they seek as it relates

to disasters and large-scale planned events. The nature of this study was

phenomenological. I examined how social media can be utilized more efficiently prior to,

during, and post disaster and planned events with the input of community members. I

selected the participants using purposeful and convenience sampling techniques. I used

semi-structured interviews to obtain the data that were then pragmatically analyzed into

three categories based on the research questions and further analyzed into themes

discussed in Chapter 4. I conducted this study to assist government and emergency

management officials in the greater Houston-Galveston, TX region on the information

being sought after by the community when there is imminent danger due to a disaster or

when there is a planned event that can disrupt their daily lives.

The findings of this study were that the community is seeking unbiased

information when there is a disaster that can/and will impact their lives and property, an

eagerness to help their neighbors, and the use of symbols for rapid messaging. The

findings have the ability to assist other local governments and emergency management

officials across the globe to save lives and property of their community members and

stakeholders.

Interpretation of the Findings

The findings of the study extend the knowledge of the assertions found in Chapter

2; that social media is a useful communication tool when used in conjunction with the

community through open dialogue and collaboration of information when a disaster

strikes or there is a large, planned event that disrupts the daily lives of the community. In

addition, the findings are in coordination with the transformative theoretical framework.

This study did not focus on the everyday use of social media for news or information, and

only focused on disasters and large, planned events in the greater Houston-Galveston, TX

region. During the data analysis, it was discovered that the participant’s response

focused on disasters and not planned events.

In Chapter 2, the literature review, numerous articles discussed communication,

social media, and collaboration. The findings of this study confirm that social media is

an avenue for communication and collaboration with the community and stakeholders. In

the literature review, I discussed social media, the history of its use, benefits, and

methods of collaboration that can be applied towards planning, preparations, and

response to disaster incidents and planned events. The findings of the study show that

social media is used a great deal by the participants for various reasons with the

underlying reasons of news or information and communicating with friends and family.

When discussing communication with government and emergency management officials,

the participants of the study had minimal response and some mentioned that they have,

and others that they will, communicate with government or emergency management

officials in the future. In addition, the findings showed that the information can extend

the use of social media.

When discussing collaboration with government and emergency management

officials, I discovered that the participants are willing and eager to assist officials in

planning and preparing for the next disaster. I found that the participants wanted to be

included in the decision-making process to protect their lives and property and that of

complete strangers. As emergencies continue to grow, and the use of social media for

information sharing during those emergencies is used, the participants told me that they

are willing to use social media to collaborate with leaders and officials. Participants said

that they will communicate with local leaders, emergency management officials, and

complete strangers who are willing to help them when a disaster strikes. The participants

showed love for a complete stranger and were willing to invest their time with local

leaders so that everyone is informed and ready for the next disaster. These findings will

extend the knowledge of the use of social media for the next disaster or event. As

Feldman et al. (2015) mentioned, people who reside in vulnerable areas are willing to use

social media to share information. The findings from this study will help government

leaders and emergency management officials update their current social media policies.

When the community trusts their leaders, and feel as though their voices are heard, they

are more willing to share the message from leaders in the future and follow their

directives when disaster strikes (United States Office of Government Ethics, 2000). I

discovered that social media is the first place a majority of the participants receive and

share critical information, before looking at traditional media sources. This knowledge

will extend the discipline that local government agencies could update their public

information policies and practices.

The transformative theoretical framework focuses on building relationships within

society (Creswell, 2013). The use of this framework will build relationships between the

community, stakeholders, government officials, and emergency managers to collectively

progress disaster, natural or human-caused, planning, response, and recovery through the

use of social media messaging (Creswell, 2013). Additionally, the transformative

framework will be integral in assisting in changing the lives of community members,

stakeholders, and the participants in regards to social media messaging policies by

government leaders and emergency management officials. This study was a prime

example of how social media can be used to foster strong relationships between

government and emergency management officials and the diverse communities of

Houston and Galveston, TX.

The emphasis of the transformative theoretical framework is relationships within

society and social media is an avenue that can build strong relationships. As Creswell

(2013) stated, the transformative research framework involves the participants making an

impact through their voice to provide assistance in a positive change within the region

and beyond. When a disaster strikes and information is shared between elected and

appointed officials and the community, relationships can become stronger. Furthermore,

as Greene and Caracelli (1997) recognized, the use of transformative framework provides

a value-based platform when attempting to alter or change current public information

messaging policies as it pertains to social media messaging. The transformative

framework is a prime example of how relationships have the ability to form and grow

when all parties involved are willing to assist each other to save lives and property. The

participants provided a voice for the research region and beyond in an action-oriented

style solution for adaptation in social media use and policies for the local governments.

Additionally, the use of the transformative framework took the information that the

participants provided and placed the information in action. In the course of this study, I

provided a deeper insight into how the various communities within the greater

HoustonGalveston, TX region can more effectively use social media for messaging prior

to, during, and following a disaster or event. As social media is an evolving technology,

it may save lives and property through the foundation of the transformative theoretical

framework within this qualitative study.

The findings of this study were in alignment with the use of the transformative

framework. The participants mentioned how they are willing to be the voice to the

government leader and emergency management officials in what information they sought

when there is a disaster or a large, planned event that can and will alter their daily

routines.

Limitations of the Study

As discussed in Chapter 1 of this study, I identified limitations to this study. The

three limitations that arose from the execution of the study were: media preference by age

of participants, numerous platforms available to the participants, and the relationships

between the community and government and emergency management officials. I

interviewed eight participants, at which point, I reached saturation.

The first limitation was the media preference by age of the participant. The

participants that were older in age did seek out information from traditional media

sources as previously identified in Chapter 1. The interesting thing that I noted was that

this age group also used social media to gather information and seek more information

from different platforms. This limitation was found to not be an issue, as the older

participants went immediately to social media for information as well.

Another limitation to the study was the numerous social media platforms that are

available to obtain information from. This was of concern due to the large number of

social media platforms that are available via a cellular telephone or computer. Although

this was a limitation to the study, I discovered that all the participants sought information

from two social media platforms as their main source and then each participant had their

own subsequent platforms to gather any additional information they may have wanted.

The final limitation I identified was the relationship between the community and

government and emergency management officials. Trust is the most important factor

when building the relationship between the community and government and/or

emergency management officials. This limitation was found to be unfounded, as I got the

impression that the community members have trust in the government and emergency

management officials in making the right decisions for the overall safety and well-being

of the community. Furthermore, the participants will listen to the messages that are sent

by the officials. Community members have provided information and were willing to

collaborate in the future. The limitations to the study that were initially discussed were

minor as the participants readily used social media to gather and share information on

two main platforms no matter what the age of the participant and were willing to assist

officials when given the opportunity.

Recommendations

In this study, I identified multiple recommendation for future research that could

better assist local governments and emergency management officials in disaster prone

locations and when planning for large-scale events. The use of symbols in social media

messaging, before a disaster or event planning and preparations, additional public

information office (PIO) staffing, and more collaboration with the community are the

identified areas for future considerations. With these considerations I feel that the region

can become better prepared and able to make more informed decisions as it relates to

disasters, natural or human-caused, and planned events.

Each participant mentioned that maps or pictures would be beneficial when

sending messages about disasters. They said that the use of symbols would be beneficial

for various reasons, including the diversity of the region. Barham and Everett (2021)

stated that the use of symbols is a crucial component of language that has dated back

millions of years in archaeological findings. Symbols can cross cultures and offer a

visual learner the ability to see the symbol or read the message to understand the nature

of the message. It will be up to each agency to determine which symbol to use for a

disaster or planned event from preprogrammed symbols to one generated for that specific

disaster or event. Another recommendation is to continually connect with the diverse

communities throughout the year.

Emergency management officials can use social media to connect to the diverse

communities throughout the year to ensure that those communities that are English as a

second language (ESL) are aware of and prepared for disasters and events. Although

September is national preparedness month according to Ready.gov, social media is an

avenue to provide monthly awareness information to the diverse communities that are

within the greater Houston-Galveston, TX region in an effort to ensure that those

communities and stakeholders are prepared. This can be accomplished with short

messages and semiotics once a month where the message builds upon itself. The use of

social media has the ability to provide tidbits of information with links to additional

information that the receiver can then access to further their knowledge. This can be

done with the public information officer currently or with added staff.

With the addition to the PIO staff, more preparedness messages can be sent out.

The additional staff or a collateral duty in preparing and delivering preparedness

messages monthly ensures that the community has the resources to be prepared and plan

adequately for disasters and events. This will be dependent upon budgets but has the

potential to prevent complacency as it pertains to preparedness and planning for disasters.

With the additional staffing it affords the opportunity to have continual collaboration with

the community and stakeholders. This collaboration on a continual basis can create

inclusion of the community members and the ability to share the information with their

social media networks. This study revealed that there is an interest and a willingness to

collaborate with the government and emergency management officials when there is a

disaster.

The aforementioned ideas are recommendations for government and emergency

management officials with disaster messaging utilizing social media for future research.

There have been numerous articles and studies conducted with the benefits of social

media and how it can be used for information sharing and this study has identified areas

for future research in conjunction with the literature review from Chapter 2. With this

study, I identified multiple areas of positive social change.

Implications

This study can positively impact social change on an individual level, community

level, and for local governments and emergency management officials when planning,

preparing, and responding to disasters and large, planned events. For the individual level,

this study has implications of positive social change in a way that makes them feel

connected to the disaster or event. Effective information interchange as it pertains to a

disaster can be problematic and this study aimed to change that through positive

collaborative use of social media (Steelman et al., 2014). By sharing information or

through collaboration, the positive outlook on the government and emergency

management officials pre, during, and post disaster or event by the individual community

member through inclusion is a benefit to all parties. During disasters collaboration is

encouraged where the citizens are the experts in what is taking place in their

neighborhood and social media is the avenue that the participants are willing to use

(Feldman et al., 2015). Collaboration through the citizen will ease the burden from

public safety and have the ability for current photographs to be shared with the

government leaders in decision making meetings. In relation to the community, the

benefit to collaboration and constant communication has the potential for positive social

change as the community is connected to the local leaders and officials. The whole

community mindset can be felt by those communities who might otherwise feel left out

or forgotten about. There are numerous positive social changes for the local government

leaders and the emergency management officials. The most important positive social

change is that the local government leaders and emergency management officials do not

feel the burden of doing all the work. Social media and the community is used to assist

the government and emergency management officials that changes the role of the

community member from a consumer of information into an information producer and

analyst through collaboration (Noji, 2015). Through collaboration and continual social

media messaging, there is buy-in from the community for preparedness and planning, and

the community will actively provide information to the government and emergency

management officials so that decisions can be made with as much information as

possible. When the community, government, and emergency management officials work

in a collaborative manner safety for the community and first responders is at the forefront

when disaster strikes.

Conclusion

When disaster strikes, social media can be a very effective tool to reaching those

in need and sharing critical information to those leaders and first responders. This study

showed that social media is used by the community on a daily basis for information

gathering and sharing. Furthermore, this study can be used by local leaders and

emergency management officials prior to and during disasters and large, planned events

in the greater Houston-Galveston, TX region and abroad when developing policies and

techniques with social media messaging. The community values the information that

local leaders provide and at the same time the participants all stated that they are willing

to help complete strangers and their local leaders in times of disasters. Throughout this

study it was interesting to discover that the participants focused on extreme weather

incidents and not on planned events.

The collaborative efforts and the combination of modern technology of social

media has the capability to help neighbors and complete strangers in the worst of times

and in preparing for the next disaster. Government leaders, emergency management

officials, community members, stakeholders have the ability with social media to get the

message out more than in the past. Government leaders and emergency management

officials can use the technology, coupled with the community, to save as many lives and

as much property as they can, and this can only be done when the government and

emergency management work collaboratively with the community. It is my hope that this

study reflects the whole community mindset in the worst of times and everyone is willing

to help out in an effort to make a positive social change to the greater Houston-

Galveston, TX region.

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