The effectiveness of emergency communication on social media. A case study of the Twitter account of 112 Emergencias Madrid

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5209/esmp.87368
Keywords: crisis, risk, catastrophe, official sources, metrics

Abstract

Social media is a vital tool for emergency communication. Metrics analysis can help evaluate its effectiveness and improve information management. This case study analyzes the posts of the official Twitter account of 112 Emergencias Madrid over five months. Correlations between variables are explored using a quantitative methodology. The results show that the posts with the highest impact are not local emergencies, but international news related to the Turkey and Syria earthquake emergency. We observe robust positive associations between the number of retweets, likes, and user reach. However, no significant associations were found between these variables and the number of clicks on the url. These findings suggest that popularity metrics on social media do not always correlate with the effectiveness of risk communication. This suggests a deeper and more complex evaluation of communication strategies on social media to improve risk management in the future.

 

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Author Biography

Marcos Mayo-Cubero, Universidad Complutense de Madrid

Professor of Journalism at Complutense University of Madrid (Spain)
Research fellow at H2020 Mediatized EU project (2021-23)
Ph.D. in Communication from the Complutense University. BA in Journalism from the Carlos III University. Former director of the MA in TV Journalism-Antena 3 at Nebrija University (2019-23). His research interests include journalism, political information, disinformation, and crisis communication. Invited as an expert evaluator by the European Commission (2022). As a researcher, he has published articles in JCR scientific journals indexed in WOS and Scopus. In addition, he has more than twelve years of professional experience in television as a news reporter at laSexta Noticias, specializing in Politics and Economics (2006-18). An investigative journalist in corruption cases, including the 'Panama Papers.' He also coordinated as deputy head of the international desk of laSexta for three years. He has also worked for TVE, Cadena SER, and the economic magazine Capital.

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Published
2023-06-09
How to Cite
Mayo-Cubero M. y Chivite J. (2023). The effectiveness of emergency communication on social media. A case study of the Twitter account of 112 Emergencias Madrid. Estudios sobre el Mensaje Periodístico, 29(2), 327-335. https://doi.org/10.5209/esmp.87368
Issue
Vol. 29 No. 2 (2023): Monográfico: Comunicación de riesgo y emergencias: análisis de estrategias y discursos en la era digital
Section
Studies

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In order to support the global exchange of knowledge, the journal Estudios sobre el Mensaje Periodístico is allowing unrestricted access to its content as from its publication in this electronic edition, and as such it is an open-access journal. The originals published in this journal are the property of the Complutense University of Madrid and any reproduction thereof in full or in part must cite the source. All content is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 use and distribution licence (CC BY 4.0). This circumstance must be expressly stated in these terms where necessary. You can view the summary and the complete legal text of the licence.