New Social Media Strategies for Existing Natural Disaster Plans in the UAE - Research Proposal Example

Abstract In October 2016, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) experienced devastating floods that resulted in destruction of property and loss of life. This natural disaster highlighted social media as a communication tool that could be used by both the government and the residents of the UAE. Moreover, it was apparent that social media, as a strategy, involves government, community, emergency services such as the UAE National Emergency and Crisis and Disasters Management Authority, Office for the Coordination of Foreign Aid (OCFA), UAE red cross and NGOs. It would also include other close countries that are affected such as OMAN, Qatar and KSA. In order to investigate the impact of the use of social media as an effective tool in natural disaster situation, a flexible design based on qualitative analysis study was conducted. The ontology of the research takes an anti-foundational position while the epistemology assumptions take an interpretivist approach. The objective of the research is to review existing natural disaster plans and to develop new social media strategies that will be able to be incorporated in current natural disaster plans in the UAE. The motivation for this research is witnessing firsthand the destruction and loss of life that occurred during a recent natural disaster. Social media is a fairly recent phenomenon and its usage has the potential to impact positively or negatively, subsequently, this research will identify aspects of social media that will impact on a natural disaster situation in the UAE. This proposal organised as follows: Section 2 provides a review of the relevant literature. Section 3 identifies theoretical concepts and models. Section4 describes the research approach. Section 5 describes methodology and data collection methods finally; Section 6 provides a critical reflection. Literature Review Jin, Liu and Austin (2011) note that individuals are increasingly using social media for communication purposes during crises. For this reason, they advise communication professionals on the need to understand how to strategically use social media tools. The authors also noted that there is scarce research on the key factors that influence how publics consume crisis information through social media and thus introduced the social-mediated crisis communication model (SMCC) to fill the gap. Social media has become the major platform of communication for most people in the Arab countries and governments and business currently use social media in such areas as health, education and social marketing for interaction between citizens (Al-Badi, 2012). A study conducted by Al- Badi in the Gulf region in 2012 revealed that most government agencies use social media to fulfill their ministries duties as well as to communicate with the general public (Al-Badi, 2012). However, the author argues that most of the efforts in using social media in government agencies are individual rather than national strategy. The use of social media by state agencies has several advantages. According to Al-Badi (2012), it enables the government to: (1) access to audiences; (2) improve the relationship with the public; (3)cut communications costs; (4) reach targeted audiences speedily; and (4) get instant feedback. Alternately, challenges of using social media include dealing with a lack of IT infrastructure, a lack of IT skills among government staff, a lack of national media strategy by the government and lack of resources to support the adoption of such strategies. The sharing of social media content relays on the hype that that post generates. Pang (2013) defines social media hype as a netizen-induced hype that triggers huge interest due to a key event and is sustained by a self-reinforcing quality in its ability for individuals who use the platform to engage in conversation. Pang explains that it involves a trigger event, supported by interest waves and the sustaining of interest on various social media platforms. Organization are, thus required to monitor online conversations and respond quickly through the same platform that the hype was triggered, and share consistent messages across all mediums. Kaplan and Haenlein (2010) explains that social media has made it possible for blogs, collaborative projects, content communities, social networking sites, virtual game worlds, virtual social worlds to exist. They notes that social media is very dynamic as it keeps changing daily. For this reason, they advise organizations that use social media to choose their platforms carefully, ensure activity alignment, have a media integration plan, as well as ensure access to all, especially employees. Besides, they encourage organizations that use social media platforms to be active, humble, and honest. Reynolds and Seeger (2005) developed a Crisis Emergency Risk Communication (CERC) plan to guide disaster management teams on how to communicate with an affected community during a crisis. CERC employs six principles for crisis management: (1) be first; (2) be right; (3) be credible; (4) express empathy; (5) promote action and (6) show respect. The emphasis is on quick disseminated of information so that affected persons have respect and have that knowledge and confidence that order is being restored. Emergency crisis teams currently use the CERC model as part of their social media community strategy to reach persons affected during disasters. Likewise, by using social media for communication, disaster management teams can measure and understand the emotional state of the people as well as the collective rumour mills and its consequences. Social media platforms have made it possible for disaster management teams to acquire, analyze, and disseminate information effectively. Similarly, many countries now use social media in emergency management. For example, in 2012, the United States government agencies and public officials used social media for communicating information to the public during Hurricane Sandy by creating round-the-clock press conferences (Preston, 2012). Likewise, using social media, they were able to disseminate credible information and portray a sense of control despite the disorder and chaos that resulted from the event. Al-Saggaf and Simmons (2015) report that social media has been used previously in Saudi Arabia during two peacetime disasters where the affected communities were able to communicate the gravity of the damage of the floods as well as use social media to call for action to solve the problem. In 2011 during the East Japan Earthquake, social media was used to share information and summon for help from volunteers both inside and outside the country (Peary, Shaw, & Takeuchi, 2012). Facebook and Twitter were used during the crisis to coordinate critical humanitarian functions such as safety identification, locating of the victims, fundraising and moral support systems. Similarly, during the 2010 eruptions of Mount Merapi in Indonesia, Twitter was used to dispatch volunteers to the affected areas as well as call for help from members of the community. Other cases that social media has been used in emergencies worldwide include the 2010 Eyjafjallajokull volcano (Watson & Finn, 2014), the 2007 Virginia Tech shootings (Guth, 2013), and the 2009 H1N1 pandemic (Liu & Kim, 2011). Despite social media being used for emergencies and to assist people in affected communities, social media can also be used maliciously as a spreader of rumors (Bernstein, 2012). Rumor is collective behavior that involves information and psychology where people offer, evaluate and interpret information (Oh et al, 2010) that sets in motion ambiguities about the event (Aguirre et al. 2001). The first study of rumor and social media was by Oh et al. (2013) who found that the quality of information produced by social media will determine the success of using social media in a crisis situation. Social media can be used during an emergency crisis to disseminate information to the affected people as well as help rally for support (Pang, 2013; Pearce, 2003; Reynolds & Seeger, 2005; Reuter et al., 2011; Vieweg et al., 2008). Despite this, there is still limited theory-grounded research to understand effective strategies for using social media to manage crisis management. Lachlan et al. (2015) examined social media and crisis management focusing on search strategies and Twitter content and found that in a crisis situation, Twitter and other social media are used by people to disperse information and react. Furthermore Lachlan et al. (2015) found that social media can facilitate prompt responses to an emergency and assist in aid. Also, no research exists on the effectiveness of social media such as Facebook and Twitter in crisis management apart from Jin (2001) that proposed a new conceptual model to help public relations officers on effective use of blogs in crisis management communication. Research questions The focus of the research will be to examine the role of social media in crises management during the occurrence of natural disasters in the UAE (United Arabs Emirates). The specific research questions the study will answer are: 1. What strategies/plans for managing a natural disaster crisis are currently exists in the UAE? Ngcamu et al. (2015) explored the media frame disaster contingency plans that are in place before, during and after a disaster and recommended that further studies should incorporate the research of implementing a comprehensive plan that connects the media with subject-matter throughout all phases of a disaster. 2. How can the UAE government use social media effectively, and what strategies should be considered to disperse information during a time of crisis? Al-Saggaf & Simmons (2015) used a qualitative thematic analysis to analyze social media use during the recent natural disasters in Saudi Arabia and Finlayson (2011) explored the necessity of the visibility of governments dealing with natural disasters in a world of speedy and ubiquitous communication via social media. Valentini (2014) emphasized that strategies should be able to deal with rumors, violence and malevolence in a time of natural disasters. 3. How do governments monitor social media during the crisis and with what consequences? Social media has been defined as netizen-generated hype that is triggered by an event and sustained by its self-reinforcing quality (Pang, 2013). The strength of Twitter is not only speed, but the ability to spread different dimensions of eyewitness accounts of an event with pictures (O’Connor, 2009). Leberecht (2010) found that false information can be easily spread by Twitter along with propagating misinformation, rumor and propaganda and this was acknowledged by Biz Stone, the co-founder of Twitter. Governments, therefore, should plan strategies to deal with this problem during a natural disaster. 4. How does the UAE community seek out crisis information and what effect would this have on the community? Austin et al. (2012) explored the Social-Mediated Crisis Communication Model (SMCC) to determine how information is gained and what factors affect media use during a crisis. An important aspect of the research was identifying audience behaviors that formed an important addition to the crisis communication theory. This will be further explored in the context of seeking crisis information in the UAE during a disaster. 5. How does the UAE community experience a natural disaster crisis? In March 2016, Dubai experienced the worst flooding in its modern history that resulted in loss of life and serious destruction of property. It was reported in the International Business Times (14 March 2016) that the authorities in the UAE warned that people posting negative images or rumors could be punishable with jail and/or fines. This event highlighted the need for crisis response strategies and public crisis emotions strategies that build on the SMCC). Theory and Concepts The theories and concepts will be the foundation for an in-depth understanding of the use of social media in crisis management. The Situational Crisis Communication Theory was developed by Coombes (1995) where it was found that the effective emergency response is reliant on the assessment of the situation and the related reputational threat. This theory will provide the basis of an evidence-based framework to identify the current strategies of the UAE government that can maximize the reputational protection for post-crisis information. According to Coombes (2015), an organization must respond to crises on the social media platform that it first appears (i.e. Facebook). Coombes provided a set of guidelines for crisis strategies response to protect reputations. The SCCC Theory will used as a basis to further develop unique strategies for the UAE in a natural disaster. The Attribution Theory is important for this research since people will attribute responsibility for an event while experiencing emotional reactions. Attribution is the stakeholder’s perspective and is the “perception of inference of cause” (Kelly &Michela, 1980, p. 458). The theory explains that the public is likely to be less critical of an organization if the cause of a crisis is external resulting in goodwill for the organization. Modern Emergency Management by Coppola (2011) provides a basis for Natural Disaster Management in the UAE using the four-phase approach of mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery. These phases of emergency management influence the management of social media in a natural disaster. Furthermore, it will assist in clarifying the activities undertaken at each step to ensure that the government effectively manages a natural disaster in the UAE. The Social-Mediated Crisis Communication Model (SMCC) (Jin & Liu, 2010) as a source of information will be used to describe the interaction between the UAE government in a crisis and the three types of public who produce and consume information before, during and after the crisis. The analysis will be on (1) creators of the social media, (2) the social media followers and (3) the social media inactive who follow by word of mouth. Rumor is a collective behavior that includes information and psychology and Rumor Theory evaluates the use of Twitter as a social reporting tool (Oh et al. 2010). The research will analyze Rumor Theory in relation to social media in a natural disaster and will look at recent events that invoked the use of social media and rumor and its consequences. Following the studies of DiFonzo (2008), it is important that my research develops rumor-quelling strategies to assist the UAE government in a natural disaster that will not result in the reactions of March 2016 during the Dubai floods. Research Approach Following Furlong and Marsh (2002) guide. The ontology of my research is an anti-foundational position as in a natural disaster situation; it is our interpretation or perception of the real world that will be contingent on the situation. The research will focus on the subjectivist approach by understanding the opinions and experiences of the community and the government during natural crises. From an epistemological viewpoint, my study will be in the interpretivist paradigm as social beings interrelate and interact with society (Weber, 1978) using social media. The reality of the crisis is socially constructed by what the government posting and how the community is responding. Axiology concerns judgments about values. My axiology is the moral responsibility as there are multiple realities based on the subjects’ perceptions Methodology The nature of the proposed research is flexible design and qualitative analysis. Flexible design will enable multiple qualitative data collections. Participants’ views and presentation of multiple realities will build upon existing research (Robson, 2012) in social media and natural disasters. Because social media is naturally occurring data, netography, as an ethnographic technique, will allow observation of the posting behavior of the respondents. The netography will follow Kozinets’ (2010) five steps: planning, entrée, data collection, analysis, and reporting. This methodology allows data from the internet to be deconstructed based on the different cultures of the respondents using methods found in sociology and anthropology. For several years, researchers have been using ethnographic methods to analyze online communities and cultures. However, digital ethnographers need to separate themselves from the subjects being studied, using theoretically informed frameworks and developing a sense of truthfulness. Subsequently, the methodology of netography is essential to this research. Netography, an interpretive research methodology, uses ethnographic research techniques to study cultures and communities that exist on internet platforms that facilitate interactions and communication such as social media sites (Kozinets, 2002). The main advantage of this methodology is that it allows researchers to obtain automated data capture from the internet where they can screenshot the conversations or download the pictures. It is also cheap as there will be lower search costs and the information is plentiful. Netography will establish the use of social media during a natural disaster crisis, which will capture the actual interactions (lived experience) in the community. Since qualitative research design depends upon the human experience, data can be gathered from individuals using social media and then the replication to the larger population. Document analysis, a social research method, will be used to analyze, examine and interpret the documents and records that are relevant to this study (Bowen, 2009). This involves the analysis of current government strategies and policies concerning social media during a natural disaster. Data collection methods Netography: Automated data capture from the online environment will be an active approach to obtain and analyze social media and a natural disaster in the UAE. This will involve immersion into the online world of social media in order to communicate meaningfully with the online culture or community (Belk et al. 2013). The data obtained through netography will be analyzed using the software program Qualitative Data Analysis (QDA) or NVivo and Atlas.ti. These programs will organize and analyze the data whereby the meanings and implications of the data can be determined (Belk et al. 2013). Data collection will also evolve from archival data from the UAE government current policies concerning social media and natural disasters. Field notes will be created by the researcher to reflect observations and descriptive research. Elicited data will be created alongside the social media community in order to produce relevant personal and communal interaction (Blek et al. 2013). Samples The recent disaster event of the UAE floods in March 2016 will be analyzed on particular social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram).These platforms have been chosen due to their popularity. The characteristics of the event promoted the unprecedented use of social media which was used to generate rumor, and as a response, the UAE government threatened jail for posting pictures and ‘rumours’ (International Business Times, 14 March 2016). The semi-structured interview allows for in-depth interviews that will be used to gather data from the participants. They will be used in the research process as they will allow the researcher develop an in-depth understanding of the current social media policies, practices, and strategies used by the NECMA to manage crises. The semi-structured interview will be based on a semi-structured interview plan, which contains the topics that the researcher will explore (Jamshed, 2014). The questionnaire will comprise of both core questions and others that are linked to the core question as open-ended questions. The sample for the interview will be Non-probability sampling (purposive sampling) will be used to ensure that data relevant to the research area are collected from research subject experts or knowledgeable people (Robson, 2011) particularly high-ranking executives (decision makers) at the federal level within the NECMA. Document analysis as a systematic procedure for evaluating documents will require access to UAE government policy documents relating to social media and natural disaster. Documents from press releases, print media, and other printed material will be incorporated for the information they contain. Since document analysis can be used as a means of triangulation (Denzin, 1970), it is expected that this will produce rich information to discover insights into social media and natural disaster in the UAE primarily based on the recent natural disaster in March 2016. Critical Reflection This research proposal was prompted by the natural disaster of the UAE floods of 2016 and the use of social media. In designing the Research Design Canvas, it was important to look at current theories and models of social media and natural disasters. In exploring the extent that social media is used, many scholarly articles were accessed where academics had developed theories into this new phenomenon. Furthermore, it was necessary to investigate the natural disaster and how social media impacts on the dissipation of information. The literature review on the research proposal is not complete and nor does it reflect the actual knowledge in the public domain. An extensive review of a significant number of articles is needed to construct an actual representative gap in the literature. Also, the time frame has been left out so that it does not limit me in the development of the doctoral thesis. The research questions also may be reformulated to reflect since the review of literature is not complete. The research looks at the positives and the negatives of the use of social media during a natural disaster. In this respect, my research, which focuses specifically on the UAE, will require co-operation from the UAE government, as I will need to access government policies and strategies regarding the use of social media during a natural disaster. 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