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，公众越来越依赖Twitter等社交媒体作为信息来源。这些信息来源的缺点是，它们也可能是毫无根据的谣言的来源，就像哈维和厄玛飓风期间传播的一系列问题一样。社交媒体的即时分享功能使得谣言难以控制，因为来自官方来源的揭穿错误信息的信息往往来得较晚。在这些问题的推动下，这个项目将收集和分析有关哈维飓风和厄玛飓风期间谣言是如何传播和控制的数据。这个项目的目的是研究(a)谣言如何在社交媒体上传播；(b)什么是有效的揭穿网络；(c)公众如何处理风险信息，规定了后续的信息处理和共享等沟通行为。本研究将采用社交网络分析、内容分析、调查、访谈、优化和模拟等方法，来(a)识别灾害期间社交媒体用户的谣言响应行为；(b)识别社交媒体用户信息处理和信息共享等风险传播行为背后的动机；(c)建立个体社交媒体用户的决策模型，预测未来对谣言的反应；(d)调查社交媒体在谣言控制中的使用情况，以及灾害应对机构在谣言管理方面的潜在合作；(e)设计灾难响应机构在社交媒体上的潜在协作方法，以最大限度地降低谣言造成的成本和损害。

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.