Communication Roles in Public Events – A Case Study on Twitter Communication

Mirbabaie Milad, Ehnis Christian, Stieglitz Stefan, Bunker Deborah

Abstract

Whilst many studies have looked at the characteristics of effective communications via social media platforms, their use during extreme events to communicate and organize is still relatively uncharted. We have even less understanding of the roles that extreme event participants play via their use of social media, and this study seeks to address this gap in our knowledge. We analyze the Twitter data related to the 1st May (Labour Day) 2014 event in Germany to identify participant roles in this event, and the impact their tweets had on other participants. From this analysis we draw some tentative conclusions about role and their impact and highlight areas for further investigation.