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The signals and noise: Actionable information in improvised social media channels during a disaster

He, X and Lu, D and Margolin, D and Wang, M and El Idrissi, S and Lin, YR (2017) The signals and noise: Actionable information in improvised social media channels during a disaster. In: UNSPECIFIED.

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Abstract

Web-based social and communication technologies enable citizens to self-organize relief efforts in response to crises.This work focuses on a question fundamental to the concept of collective intelligence: how efective are such self-organized channels, ungoverned by any central authority, in conforming to their intended function? In this study we examine the hashtag #PorteOuverte ("#OpenDoor") introduced during the 2015 Paris terrorist attacks, as an "improvised logistical channel" (ILC) to help individuals to find a safe shelter near the attack sites. We analyze the dynamics and effectiveness of #PorteOuverte by comparing its proportion of relevant logistical messages - individuals requesting or offering shelter - to other messages such as those ofering emotional consolation or commenting on the hashtag itself. Our results reveal that the vast majority of messages are not relevant, however the crowd senses and spreads relevant messages more than others. We further demonstrate that relevant messages can be automatically detected and thus algorithmic promotion may be possible.

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Details

Item Type: Conference or Workshop Item (UNSPECIFIED)
Status: Published
Creators/Authors:
CreatorsEmailPitt UsernameORCID
He, X
Lu, D
Margolin, D
Wang, M
El Idrissi, S
Lin, YRYURULIN@pitt.eduYURULIN0000-0002-8497-3015
Contributors:
ContributionContributors NameEmailPitt UsernameORCID
CorrespondentLin, Yu-Ruyurulin@pitt.eduYURULINUNSPECIFIED
Date: 25 June 2017
Date Type: Publication
Journal or Publication Title: WebSci 2017 - Proceedings of the 2017 ACM Web Science Conference
Page Range: 33 - 42
Event Type: Conference
DOI or Unique Handle: 10.1145/3091478.3091501
Schools and Programs: School of Information Sciences > Information Science
Refereed: Yes
ISBN: 9781450348966
Related URLs:
Date Deposited: 30 Jun 2017 14:57
Last Modified: 30 Mar 2021 10:55
URI: http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/id/eprint/32599

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