Title :
Online Community Response to Major Disaster: A Study of Tianya Forum in the 2008 Sichuan Earthquake
Author :
Yan Qu ; Wu, P.F. ; Xiaoqing Wang
Author_Institution :
Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD
Abstract :
Immediately after the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, the netizens reacted and participated in the disaster response in many ways. This work examined a popular Chinese discussion forum during the first week after the earthquake, adopting both quantitative and qualitative approaches. A new message classification scheme was developed to categorize 2,266 discussion threads posted to the forum. Four important roles played by the forum were identified and further examined. Design implications for disaster response systems were drawn.
Keywords :
Web sites; disasters; 2008 Sichuan earthquake; Tianya forum; disaster response systems; online community response; popular Chinese discussion forum; Communications technology; Computer networks; Discussion forums; Earthquakes; Government; Hurricanes; Internet; Libraries; Seismic measurements;
Conference_Titel :
System Sciences, 2009. HICSS '09. 42nd Hawaii International Conference on
Conference_Location :
Big Island, HI
Print_ISBN :
978-0-7695-3450-3
DOI :
10.1109/HICSS.2009.330
