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

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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.