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Study on Risk Cultures and Social Media Use in Emergencies

19/06/2020

ATHENE researchers publish study on risk cultures in social media

The members of the research group “PEASEC – Science and Technology for Peace and Security” lead by ATHENE researcher Prof Christian Reuter at the TU Darmstadt have published a European study with the topic: “The impact of risk cultures: Citizens’ perception of social media use in emergencies across Europe”. The study was conducted in cooperation with the University of Siegen and the Tavistock Institute (London) and had initially been published in the journal Technological Forecasting and Social Change. Now, it has also been published as an article by the Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance.

Social media is being used across the world. Given the fact that mobile devices are potentially always in reach and commonly used for communication on social media platforms, it is not unusual that they are also in use during situations of emergency. The researchers monitored and analysed this closely in their study with more than 7.000 participants from Germany, the UK, the Netherlands and Italy.

  • Original study: Christian Reuter, Marc-André Kaufhold, Stefka Schmid, Thomas Spielhofer, Anna Sophie Hahne (2019) The Impact of Risk Cultures: Citizens’ Perception of Social Media Use in Emergencies across Europe, Technological Forecasting and Social Change 148(119724), S. 1-17, pdf
  • Article (German): Christian Reuter, Marc-André Kaufhold, Stefka Schmid (2020) Risikokulturen bei der Nutzung Sozialer Medien in Katastrophenlagen, BBK Bevölkerungsschutz, S. 14-17, pdf

 

More information on the study’s results atPEASEC

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