Like and Share: The Effectiveness of Social Media on University Student Response Behavior during Emergency Events

<p>The purpose of this research was to identify how effective the use of social media is when used by university students during emergency events. The literature review included in this thesis studies the cases made by other researchers, who were equally as curious about social media's communication effectiveness, and in some incidents evaluated how it was used, the results produced, and what contribution it made during the timeline of that emergency. </p> <p>The methodology inquired about, and examined, the types of events which students most commonly use social media, the frequency of such use, and their interest in seeing this type of platform applied for official emergency communication purposes. A survey with a total of thirty-three questions was developed and made available online for voluntary completion by members of randomly selected student organizations at Eastern Kentucky University, with the final results delivering a compelling case for further discussion and research on this topic. </p> <p>While the results are not a reflection of the thoughts and opinions of the student population of Eastern Kentucky University, the students that volunteered their time to participate provided valuable insight, which appears to strengthen the argument for the use of social media as a mass communication tool during emergency events, with the majority of survey responses in agreement with using this tool at the university level. </p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science (MS)

Level thesis:degree_level

Master's

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Safety, Security, and Emergency Management

Grantor dc:publisher

Eastern Kentucky University

Year

2014

Author dc:creator

• Collett, Ashley Brooke

• Communication
• Emergency Management
• Emergency Response
• Social Media
• Social Network
• University
• Emergency and Disaster Management

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2014 Ashley Brooke Collett

Repository record dc:identifier

https://encompass.eku.edu/etd/248

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:encompass.eku.edu:etd-1246