“I Signed up for Twitter. Reason? Flood News.”: An Analysis of Pre-Crisis Tweets Made by Decision-Makers, Media, and the Public

Abstract

This study examines the use of Twitter by decision-makers, the media, and the public during the pre-crisis stage of the 2013 Fargo-Moorhead flood. Three research questions guide this study in order to gain understanding of the content and assumed motives that drive users to utilize Twitter prior to a crisis. Data analysis revealed that decision-makers and the media active in tweeting were consistent with what would have been expected in a crisis situation. Additionally, the public were driven by the assumed motive of sharing and seeking information during the pre-crisis stage, consistent with previous research regarding the crisis stage.