Editorial Type:
Article
Article Type:
Research Article

Social Media and Severe Weather: Do Tweets Provide a Valid Indicator of Public Attention to Severe Weather Risk Communication?

Joseph T. Ripberger Center for Risk and Crisis Management, and Cooperative Institute for Mesoscale Meteorological Studies, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma

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Hank C. Jenkins-Smith Center for Risk and Crisis Management, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma

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Carol L. Silva Center for Risk and Crisis Management, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma

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Deven E. Carlson Department of Political Science, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma

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Matthew Henderson Center for Risk and Crisis Management, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma

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Print Publication:
01 Oct 2014
Collections:
Tornado Warning, Preparedness, and Impacts
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1175/WCAS-D-13-00028.1
Page(s):
520–530
Restricted access

Abstract

Effective communication about severe weather requires that providers of weather information disseminate accurate and timely messages and that the intended recipients (i.e., the population at risk) receive and react to these messages. This article contributes to extant research on the second half of this equation by introducing a “real time” measure of public attention to severe weather risk communication based on the growing stream of data that individuals publish on social media platforms, in this case, Twitter. The authors develop a metric that tracks temporal fluctuations in tornado-related Twitter activity between 25 April 2012 and 11 November 2012 and assess the validity of the metric by systematically comparing fluctuations in Twitter activity to the issuance of tornado watches and warnings, which represent basic but important forms of communication designed to elicit, and therefore correlate with, public attention. The assessment finds that the measure demonstrates a high degree of convergent validity, suggesting that social media data can be used to advance our understanding of the relationship between risk communication, attention, and public reactions to severe weather.

Corresponding author address: Joseph T. Ripberger, 120 David L. Boren Blvd., Rm. 3106, Norman, OK 73072. E-mail: jtr@ou.edu; joseph.ripberger@noaa.gov

This article is included in the Tornado Warning, Preparedness, and Impacts Special Collection.

Abstract

Effective communication about severe weather requires that providers of weather information disseminate accurate and timely messages and that the intended recipients (i.e., the population at risk) receive and react to these messages. This article contributes to extant research on the second half of this equation by introducing a “real time” measure of public attention to severe weather risk communication based on the growing stream of data that individuals publish on social media platforms, in this case, Twitter. The authors develop a metric that tracks temporal fluctuations in tornado-related Twitter activity between 25 April 2012 and 11 November 2012 and assess the validity of the metric by systematically comparing fluctuations in Twitter activity to the issuance of tornado watches and warnings, which represent basic but important forms of communication designed to elicit, and therefore correlate with, public attention. The assessment finds that the measure demonstrates a high degree of convergent validity, suggesting that social media data can be used to advance our understanding of the relationship between risk communication, attention, and public reactions to severe weather.

Corresponding author address: Joseph T. Ripberger, 120 David L. Boren Blvd., Rm. 3106, Norman, OK 73072. E-mail: jtr@ou.edu; joseph.ripberger@noaa.gov

This article is included in the Tornado Warning, Preparedness, and Impacts Special Collection.

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