Relational Dynamics among Emergency Management Organizations during the Boston Bombing Event

• In Event: 142 - Regular Session. Group Processes

Abstract

Public officials often issue warning messages in response to imminent hazard events in order to inform the public of the hazard and direct their behavior. Research on these messages has drawn from bodies of work regarding emergent collective behavior and norms, and information diffusion. Though research in this domain has focused upon a largely one-sided communication flow from emergency management organizations (EMOs) to the public, the structure of information flow among these organizations is also important. To date, these interactions have not been extensively studied; however, the increasing use of online communication channels by EMOs allows researchers a unique opportunity to observe their public communication dynamics in a time-resolved manner. Here, we observe dynamic interactions on the social microblogging site Twitter during the Boston Marathon Bombing. Using relational event models, we find that dyadic exchange between public-facing organizations is common, despite what we might expect given a "pure" public-facing, unambiguous information deluge to the public. While the organizations do self-organize into communicative roles, we also find that organizations may also embark in sense-making behavior among themselves, despite their stated purpose of issuing directives intended for the public at large.

Authors

• C. Ben Gibson, University of California, Irvine

• Carter T. Butts, University of California, Irvine