Building Bridges between Users and Content across Multiple Platforms during Natural Disasters

TL;DR

This paper analyzes multi-platform social media networks during hurricanes to identify key bridging content and users, revealing characteristics that can help organizations improve disaster communication strategies.

Contribution

It introduces a multi-platform network analysis of social media during natural disasters, highlighting the properties of effective bridges and user affiliations.

Findings

Bridges mainly exist on X platform

Bridging content is complex and multifaceted

Bridging users share relatable demographic affiliations

Abstract

Social media is a primary medium for information diffusion during natural disasters. The social media ecosystem has been used to identify destruction, analyze opinions and organize aid. While the overall picture and aggregate trends may be important, a crucial part of the picture is the connections on these sites. These bridges are essential to facilitate information flow within the network. In this work, we perform a multi-platform analysis (X, Reddit, YouTube) of Hurricanes Helene and Milton, which occurred in quick session to each other in the US in late 2024. We construct network graphs to understand the properties of effective bridging content and users. We find that bridges tend to exist on X, that bridging content is complex, and that bridging users have relatable affiliations related to gender, race and job. Public organizations can use these characteristics to manage their social media personas during natural disasters more effectively.