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Updated presentation on Twitter use during H1N1 outbreak. From thesis of the same name. Presented during the Higher Ed Web Professionals conference in 2011.
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A Little Birdie Told MeWhat the H1N1 Outbreak Taught Us About Using Twitter
Tonya Oaks Smith25 October 2011
#SOC9
Let’s get started…
Who am I and why do you care?
Who are you? I do care
What are we talking about today?
@marleysmom @ a glance
Director of Communications at the UALR William H. Bowen School of Law
Co-chair for #hewebAR
Co-chair of the HighEdWeb regional support committee
Earned master’s degree in applied communication studies in 2010
About.me/marleysmom
Who are you?
On the agenda today
Background
Theory
Research
Results
Application
The background
Why Twitter? Presence is more and
more prevalent – use in Iran, Hudson River crash, H1N1
200 MM Tweets per day from millions of users (June 2011)
Why H1N1? Health catastrophe that
was anticipated Other communication
vehicles used in preparation for outbreak
Right place, right time
The theory Diffusion of Innovation
Ev Rogers – communication researcher and supreme networker
“Process by which an innovation is communicated through certain channels over time among the members of a social system.”
The theory
The research Over 300,000 tweets
used one of three terms (H1N1, swineflu or swine flu) during the height of the outbreak – spring to fall 2009
Isolated tweets for three key dates in the outbreak – April 25, Sept. 4, Oct. 24, 2009 = 15,000 tweets
The research Detailed reading of
5,000 tweets for content analysis
Later survey of Twitter users for in-depth information about follow-through on vaccinations
The results
Content analysis – three themes: Information-seeking
behaviors Misinformation Uncertainty
reduction
The results Survey of the
users: How often do
individuals pass along information?
How do they choose what information to pass along?
How do they verify the truth of the information they see?
How does the information they see on Twitter impact their decisions?
What’s different now?
Today, people expect to share information, not be fed it. They expect to be listened to when they have knowledge and raise questions. ... They want control over their information.
And they want connection – they give their trust to those they engage with – people who talk with them, listen and maintain a relationship.
– Michael Skoler
Media scholar
Influence means what?
Per Twitter: Indegree
influence Retweet
influence Mention
influence
Influence means what?
Popular users who have high indegree are not necessarily influential in terms of spawning retweets or mentions. Most influential users can hold significant influence over a variety of topics. Influence is not gained spontaneously or accidentally, but through concerted effort.
- Cha, Haddadi, Benevenuto, Gummadi, 2010
The applicationFind out what information is useful for your listeners… and share
But first… kittens…
No, seriously…
Don’t: Share information
unworthy of your followers
Ignore followers’ legitimate concerns
Waste time sharing useless information
Ignore misinformation
No, seriously…
Don’t: Spread information
you can’t confirm Abuse your
followers’ trust Use Twitter without
pondering the ramifications
And even more seriously…
Do: Accept importance
of medium as mass and interpersonal channel
Build relationships before emergencies and crises happen
Share salient information
Harness power of network
And even more seriously…
Do: Encourage
questioning Call attention to
misinformation Fill the information
vacuum Reduce uncertainty Verify your own
information
So what did we learn?
Twitter is an important new-ish medium (still NEW to those not in the know (bosses, presidents, chancellors ;) ))
Twitter can be used for good and evil
Our followers trust us as change agents and opinion leaders – scary!
Twitter can’t be the only medium we use to communicate information – it is part of a toolkit.
Credits
http://www.archives.gov/
http://exhibits.museum.state.il.us/exhibits/athome/1920/TeachR/posters/p1.jpg
http://2pela.posterous.com/tiffany-lims-propaganda-posters
http://www.mpi-sws.org/~gummadi/papers/icwsm2010_cha.pdf
Northwestern University Library Archives