Evaluating information diffusion speed and its determinants in social media networks during humanitarian crises

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jom.2016.05.007
• Date: 01 July 2016
• Published date: 01 July 2016

Evaluating information diffusion speed and its determinants in social

media networks during humanitarian crises

Eunae Yoo

a

, William Rand

b

, Mahyar Eftekhar

a

, Elliot Rabinovich

a

,

*

a

Department of Supply Chain Management, W. P. Carey School of Business, Arizona State University, P.O. Box 874706, Tempe,AZ 85287-4706, USA

b

Department of Business Management, Poole College of Management, North Carolina State University, 2801Founders Drive, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA

article info

Article history:

Accepted 4 May 2016

Available online 9 July 2016

Accepted by: Mikko Ketokivi

Keywords:

Humanitarian operations

Social media

Information diffusion theory

abstract

The rapid diffusion of information is critical to combat the extreme levels of uncertainty and complexity

that surround disaster relief operations. As a means of gathering and sharing information, humanitarian

organizations are becoming increasingly reliant on social media platforms based on the Internet. In this

paper, we present a field study that examines how effectively information diffuses through social media

networks embedded in these platforms. Using a lar ge dataset from Twitter during Hurricane Sandy, we

first applied Information Diffusion Theory to characterize diffusion rates. Then, we empirically examined

the impact of key elements on information propagation rates on social media. Our results revealed that

internal diffusion through social media networks advances at a significantly higher speed than infor-

mation in these networks coming from external sources. This finding is important because it suggests

that social media networks are effective at passing information along during humanitarian crises that

require urgent information diffusion. Our results also indicate that dissemination rates depend on the

influence of those who originate the information. Moreover, they suggest that information posted earlier

during a disaster exhibits a significantly higher speed of diffusion than information that is introduced

later during more eventful stages in the disaster. This is because, over time, participation in the diffusion

of information declines as more and more communications compete for attention among users.

©2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction

The management of humanitarian operations during disasters is

often highly complex due to the extreme uncertainty and diversity

of stakeholders involved in these crises (Van Wassenhove,20 06). In

such instances, gathering and sharing timely information regarding

infrastructure, supply of resources, and needs is critical to develop

an understanding of existing conditions and coordinate an effective

response (Pettit and Beresford, 2009). To that end, researchers have

stressed the importance of rapid information diffusion for hu-

manitarian organizations (HOs) to gather intelligence about con-

ditions in affected communities (Oloruntoba and Gray, 2006) and

for HOs to distribute information among stakeholders in order to

foster collaboration (Altay and Pal, 2014).

Internet-based social media hosted on platforms like Twitter or

Facebook may help facilitate information diffusion because they

provide the means through which stakeholders can upload and

share information with others in real-time and at virtually no cost.

Many HOs have recognized the value of social media platforms and

have started using them to access and share information from

various sources. This includes data from informants with first-hand

knowledge of what is occurring in affected areas (Gao et al., 2011),

and recently, HOs have aggregated these data to create crisis maps

showing landmarks like damaged infrastructure and shelters

(Meier, 2012). HOs have also used social media to share capacity

levels and resource availability to enhance coordination among

stakeholders (Sarcevic et al., 2012).

Despite these experiences, and calls by experts for additional

research on the use of social media for humanitarian operations

(e.g., Holguín-Veras et al., 2012; Kumar and Havey, 2013), the

literature on this subject is still at an embryonic stage. Most of this

work has focused on descriptions and characterizations of social

media responses to humanitarian crises (e.g., Kaigo, 2012; Kogan

et al., 2015) and has yet to rigorously consider the dynamics of

information dissemination during these events and their influence

on humanitarian operations.

*Corresponding author.

E-mail addresses: Eunae.Yoo@asu.edu (E. Yoo), billrand@gmail.com (W. Rand),

Eftekhar@asu.edu (M. Eftekhar), Elliot.Rabinovich@asu.edu (E. Rabinovich).

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Journal of Operations Management

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jom

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jom.2016.05.007

0272-6963/©2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Journal of Operations Management 45 (2016) 123e133