Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2brh9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T17:39:02.575Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Emergent Use of Twitter in the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 July 2013

Junko Umihara  and
Mariko Nishikitani
Junko Umihara*
Affiliation:
Department of Education, Hakuoh University, Tochigi, Japan
Mariko Nishikitani
Affiliation:
Department of Environmental Sciences, International College of Arts and Sciences, Fukuoka Women's University, Fukuoka, Japan
*
Correspondence: Junko Umihara, MD, PhD Hakuoh University 1117 Daigyouji, Oyamashi Tochigi 323-0041, Japan E-mail [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Introduction

Social networks play an important role in disaster situations as they have become a new form of social convergence that provides collective information. The effect of social media on people who experienced disaster should be assessed.

Hypothesis

In this study, Twitter communication during the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11, 2011 was assessed. The hypothesis of this study was that usage of Twitter had psychological effects on victims of the disaster.

Methods

A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was carried out in cooperation with a major Japanese newspaper three months after the disaster, and 1,144 volunteer participants responded. They were asked about their health, area of residence, property damage they had experienced, information sources they used at the time of the disaster, and their usage of Twitter. Further, the Twitter users were divided into two groups—with and without disaster experience. Their psychological effects relating to feelings of relief, stress or anxiety that they experienced in using Twitter were compared between two groups, and Twitter's psychological risk of disaster experience was estimated as an odds ratio.

Results

Twitter users in this study tended to reside in disaster-affected areas and thought Twitter was a credible information source during the time of the disaster. The psychological effect of Twitter differed based on participants’ disaster experience and gender. Females with disaster experience reported more feelings of relief and stress as a result of using Twitter compared to females who did not experience the disaster. On the other hand, males with disaster experience only reported more stress experiences as a result of using Twitter compared to those without disaster experience.

Conclusion

Twitter users with disaster experience had a higher usage of Twitter than those without disaster experience. Social media might have had a material psychological influence on people who experienced disaster, and the effect differed by gender. Regardless of gender, negative feelings were transmitted easily among people who experienced the disaster. It was anticipated that the application of Twitter in a disaster situation will be expanded further by taking these findings into consideration.

UmiharaJ, NishikitaniM. Emergent Use of Twitter in the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake. Prehosp Disaster Med.2013;28(5):1-7.

Keywords

emergency communicationpsychological effectsocial mediaTwitter
Type
Original Research
Information
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine , Volume 28 , Issue 5 , October 2013 , pp. 434 - 440
Copyright
Copyright © World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. Wikipedia. 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_T%C5%8Dhoku_earthquake_and_tsunami. Accessed September 1, 2012.Google Scholar
2.Eisenman, DP, Cordasco, KM, Asch, S, Golden, JF, Glik, D. Disaster planning and risk communication with vulnerable communities: lessons from Hurricane Katrina. Am J Public Health. 2007;97(Suppl 1):S109-S115.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
3.Sutton, J, Palen, L, Shklovski, I. Back channels on the front lines: emergent uses of social media in the 2007 Southern California wildfires. Paper presented at: the 5th International ISCRAM Conference, 2008, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
4.Viewed, S, Palen, L, Liu, SB, Hughes, AL, Sutton, J. Collective intelligence in disaster: examination of the phenomenon in the aftermath of the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting. Presented at: the 5th International ISCRAM Conference, 2008, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
5.Keim, ME, Noji, E. Emergent use of social media: a new age of opportunity for disaster resilience. Am J Disaster Med. 2011;6(1):47-54.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
6.Stallings, R, Quarantelli, E. Emergent citizen groups and emergency management. Public Adm Rev. 1985;45:93-100.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
7.Taylor-Clark, KA, Viswanath, K, Blendon, RJ. Communication inequalities during public health disasters: Katrina's wake. Health Commun. 2010;25(3):221-229.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
8. Ministry of International Affairs and Communications, Japan. Information and communications in Japan (White Paper 2011). http://www.soumu.go.jp/johotsusintokei/whitepaper/eng/WP2011/2011-index.html. Accessed September 1, 2012.Google Scholar
9. Yomiuri Media Kit. http://adv.yomiuri.co.jp/m-data/english/index.html. Accessed September 1, 2012.Google Scholar
10. National Police Agency (Japan). Countermeasures for the Great East Japan Earthquake. http://www.npa.go.jp/english/index.htm. Accessed September 1, 2012.Google Scholar
11.Haddock, CK, Poston, WSC, Pyle, SA, et al. The validity of self-rated health as a measure of health status among young military personnel: evidence from a cross-sectional survey. Health Qual Life Outcomes. 2006;29(4):57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
12.Heistaro, S, Jousilahti, P, Lahelma, E, Vartiainen, E, Puska, P. Self-rated health and mortality: a long-term prospective study in eastern Finland. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2001;55(4):227-232.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
13.Sheehan, DV, Lecrubier, Y, Sheehan, KH, et al. The Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview (M.I.N.I): the development and validation of a structured diagnostic psychiatric interview for DSM-IV and ICD-10. J Clin Psychiatry. 1998;59:22-23.Google ScholarPubMed
14. User Local Inc. http://machi.userlocal.jp/. (Japanese) Accessed September 1, 2012.Google Scholar
15. Ministry of International Affairs and Communications, Japan. Population Estimates 2011. Japan. http://www.stat.go.jp/data/jinsui/2011np/index.htm. Accessed September 1, 2012.Google Scholar
16.Suzuki, D. Zen Buddhism and its influence on Japanese Culture. The Eastern Buddhist Society. 1938.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
17.Umihara, J. Twitter Kofuku Ron [Twitter and Well-being]. (Japanese). Tokyo: Kadokawa Publishing. 2011.Google Scholar
18.Osofsky, HJ, Osofsky, JD, Kronenberg, M, Brennan, A, Hansel, TC. Posttraumatic stress symptoms in children after Hurricane Katrina: predicting the need for mental health services. Am J Orthopsychiatry. 2009;79(2):212-220.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
19.Decamp, M. Social media guidance, conflicts of interest, and health inequalities. Lancet. 2012;380:472-473.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
20.Mansfield, SJ, Bonning, MA, Morrison, SG, et al. Social networking and health. Lancet. 2011;377:2083-2084.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
21.Klein, K, Boals, A. Expressive writing can increase working memory capacity. J Exp Psychol Gen. 2001;130(3):520-533.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed