The emergence of social media as boundary objects in crisis response: A collective action perspective

Yenni Tim, Lusi Yang, Shan L. Pan, Laddawan Kaewkitipong, Peter Ractham

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

13 Scopus citations

Abstract

During a series of recent natural catastrophes, social media has played an increasingly prominent and varied role in crisis response, ranging from facilitating the recruitment of volunteers during an earthquake to supporting spiritual recovery after a hurricane. In this paper, we propose that social media, beyond the conventional role of information support, can also function as boundary objects, which are crucial in spanning the boundaries among involved parties that inherently restrict crisis response. Using the 2011 Thailand floods as a case study, we present a conceptual model of the role of social media in enabling a coordinated response to disasters. More specifically, the model presents three distinct processes of emergence and the corresponding boundary objects enabled by the use of social media, which are important in bridging the cognitive, relational and social boundaries among the various entities involved in crisis response.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationInternational Conference on Information Systems (ICIS 2013)
Subtitle of host publicationReshaping Society Through Information Systems Design
Pages3882-3893
Number of pages12
StatePublished - 2013
Externally publishedYes
EventInternational Conference on Information Systems, ICIS 2013 - Milan, Italy
Duration: Dec 15 2013Dec 18 2013

Publication series

NameInternational Conference on Information Systems (ICIS 2013): Reshaping Society Through Information Systems Design
Volume5

Other

OtherInternational Conference on Information Systems, ICIS 2013
Country/TerritoryItaly
CityMilan
Period12/15/1312/18/13

Keywords

  • Boundary object
  • Case study
  • Collective action
  • Emergence
  • Social media

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Computer Science Applications
  • Statistics, Probability and Uncertainty
  • Applied Mathematics
  • Library and Information Sciences

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