RAPID: Identification of Key Dynamics for Rumor Spread and Control during Hurricanes Harvey and Irma

在飓风和洪水等紧急情况下，Twitter等社交媒体形式越来越受到公众的依赖，作为信息来源。这些信息来源的不利之处是，它们也可能是毫无根据的谣言的来源，因为在飓风哈维和伊尔玛期间传播了关于一系列问题的谣言。社交媒体的即时分享功能使得谣言很难控制，因为来自官方来源的揭穿错误信息的信息往往来得很晚。在这些问题的推动下，该项目将收集和分析有关谣言在飓风哈维和飓风伊尔玛期间如何传播和控制的数据。这个项目的目标是研究(A)谣言是如何在社交媒体上传播的；(B)什么是有效的揭穿网络；以及(C)公众如何处理规定了随后的信息处理和共享等沟通行为的风险信息。研究将使用社交网络分析、内容分析、调查、访谈、优化和模拟，以(A)识别社交媒体用户在灾难期间的谣言反应行为；(B)确定社交媒体用户风险沟通行为背后的动机，如信息处理和信息共享；(C)建立个人社交媒体用户的决策模型，以预测未来对谣言的反应；(D)调查社交媒体在控制谣言方面的使用以及灾害应对机构在谣言管理方面的潜在合作；以及(E)设计灾害应对机构之间在社交媒体上的潜在协作方法，以最大限度地减少谣言产生的成本和损害。

Forms of social media like Twitter are increasingly relied upon by members of the public as sources of information in emergencies like hurricanes and floods. The downside of these sources of information is that they may also be the source of unfounded rumors as were spread regarding a host of issues during hurricanes Harvey and Irma. The instant sharing features of social media make rumors difficult to control because information from official sources to debunk misinformation often comes late. Motivated by those issue, this project will collect and analyze data related to how rumors were spread and controlled during Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma. The objectives of this project are to study (a) how rumor spreads on social media; (b) what effective debunking network constitutes; and (c) how the public deals with risk information that stipulates subsequent communication behaviors such as information processing and sharing.The study will use social network analysis, content analysis, survey, interviews, optimization and simulation, to (a) identify rumor response behaviors of social media users during disasters; (b) identify motivations behind social media users' risk communication behaviors such as information processing and information sharing; (c) build a decision making model of individual social media users to predict future responses to rumors; (d) investigate social media usage in rumor control and potential collaborations among disaster response agencies in rumor management; and (e) design potential collaboration methods among disaster response agencies on social media to minimize the costs and damages generated by rumors.