paper for Prof. Moses

4B: Synthesis/Analysis Paper- Final Name:

Social Media: Assessing the Trustworthiness of Information Shared During a Crisis

Social media can break down barriers and allow individuals and emergency managers to reach out and communicate with a wide audience and provide critical information in times of emergencies or disruptions (Kavanaugh et al., 2012; St. Denis, Hughes & Palen, 2012; Semaan, Mark, & Al-Ani, 2010; Starbird & Palen 2012; Thompson et al., 2012). More than ever, people are using social networking sites (SNS) to seek and share information, especially during disruptions; therefore, it is imperative that the information people seek is accurate and reliable. (Semaan et al.; Starbird & Palen). However, with the huge volume of information available during an crisis, people may encounter trouble discerning what information can be trusted (Semaan et al). When people evaluate the information, the perception of the information source and whether it is credible plays a vital role in how the information is assessed and whether it is deemed trustworthy (Semaan et al.; Thompson et al.). Factors that influence people’s assessment of sources include the authors’ status and popularity, position as established trustworthy connections such as friends and family, and endorsement through recommendation systems such as the retweet and hashtag conventions on Twitter (Kavanaugh et al.; St. Denis et al.; Semaan et al.; Starbird & Palen; Thompson et al.).

When choosing sources of information, the public tends to follow advice of people perceived as being experts and having extensive knowledge in their area of expertise, such as public figures, journalists, or activists (Kavanaugh et al., 2012; Semaan et al., 2010; Starbird & Palen, 2012; Thompson et al., 2012). Kavanaugh et al. argued these opinion leaders have a high adoption rate of information communication technology (ICT) and can provide credible information because they are well respected and educated members of society who seek and evaluate information from the Internet and share their interpretations with their social networks. Opinion leaders tend to have a large follower base on Twitter, and people will find information more credible and trustworthy if the author has a higher than average number of followers because updates made by users who are known and trusted can gain exposure and, therefore, allow the message to be propagated quickly through the crowd (Kavanaugh et al.; Starbird & Palen,).

In addition to public figures and perceived experts, information disseminated through personal social networks during crisis events comes with an inherent assessment of trustworthiness because the source is someone with an established social connection and who is typically already trusted (Kavanaugh et al., 2012; Starbird & Palen, 2012; Seeman et al., 2010; Thompson et al., 2012) Within social media communications, trust is a critical component influencing how information is adopted and shared during events (Semaan et al.). Strong, close-knit social networks influence perceived trustworthiness and create prolific information sharing which provides a greater opportunity to disseminate information to a large and trusted social network (Kavanaugh et al.; Semaan et al.). These strong social connections allow people to rely on friends and family during events, acting as unofficial sources, as opposed to depending exclusively on official sources, especially if a government or official organization creates a mistrusting environment by not providing timely or accurate information (Kavanaugh et al.; Semaan et al.; Thompson et al.).

Another factor which influences public trust in information is when information shared by sources that are unknown, or that have not been proven trustworthy, has been recommended by a known and trusted source. One recommendation system that can play an integral role in people’s perception of trustworthiness is the retweet function on Twitter, which is a convention that allows users to repost content created by another user (Kavanaugh et al., 2012; Starbird & Palen, 2012). This tool can influence trust because people retweet information they believe will resonate with their Twitter followers, allowing the retweet to be seen as a legitimate and valuable message, and enabling the information to spread quickly (Semaan et al., 2010; Starbird & Palen). Thompson et al. (2012) argued that retweets containing hashtags are even more credible because they are visible to a large group, which increases the chances for the validity of the message to be assessed.

In conclusion, citizens are faced with a vast amount of information through social media during a crisis, both official communications and citizen-generated content, and how people authenticate information and deem it trustworthy is based on the degree to which they trust the information’s source (Kavanaugh et al., 2012; Semaan et al., 2010; Starbird & Palen, 2012; Thompson et al., 2012). Trust is established when people’s expectations are met, which plays a vital role in how people adopt and share social media content during an event (Semaan et al.). People establish their own beliefs and determine trust based on contributing factors including perception of the sources as experts or public figures, trusted friends and family, or lesser known sources endorsed through recommendation systems such as retweeting and hashtags (Kavanaugh et al.; St. Denis, Hughes & Palen; Semaan et al.; Starbird & Palen; Thompson et al.). Further investigation is needed to fully understand how people perceive and judge information to be trustworthy as this knowledge would be valuable in the development of effective communication systems for crisis response (Kavanaugh et al.; St. Denis, Hughes & Palen; Semaan et al.; Starbird & Palen; Thompson et al.).

References

Kavanaugh, A., Sheetz, S. D., Hassan, R., Yang, S., Elmongui, H. G., Fox, E. A., ...Shoemaker, D. J. (2012). Between a rock and a cell phone: communication and information technology use during the 2011 Egyptian uprising. In L. Rothkrantz, J. Ristvej & Z. Franco (eds.), Proceedings of the 9th International ISCRAM Conference, Vancouver, Canada. Retrieved from http://www.iscramlive.org/ISCRAM2012/proceedings/185.pdf

St. Denis, L., Hughes, A., & Palen, L. (2012). Trial by fire: The deployment of trusted digital volunteers in the 2011 Shadow Lake fires. Proceedings of the 9th International ISCRAM Conference, Vancouver, Canada. Retrieved from http://www.iscramlive.org/ISCRAM2012/proceedings/150.pdf

Semaan, B., Mark, G., and Al-Ani, B. (2010). Developing information technologies for citizens experiencing disruption: The role of trust and context. Proceedings from the 7th International ISCRAM Conference, Seattle, WA. Retrieved from http://www.iscram.org/ISCRAM2010/Papers/176-Semaan_etal.pdf

Starbird, K., & Palen, L. (2012). (How) will the revolution be retweeted? Information diffusion and the 2011 Egyptian uprising. Proceedings of Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work 2012. Seattle, Washington, USA. Retrieved from https://www.cs.colorado.edu/~palen/StarbirdPalen_RevolutionRetweeted.pdf

Thomson, R., Ito, N., Suda, H. Lin, F., Liu, Y., Hayasaka, R., ...Wang, Z. (2012).Trusting tweets: The Fukushima disaster and information source credibility on Twitter. Proceedings of the 9th International ISCRAM Conference, Vancouver, Canada. Retrieved from

http://www.iscramlive.org/ISCRAM2012/proceedings/112.pdf

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