Social Media in Disasters. Big Data Issues in Public Communication Field

With the growth and the changing nature of the (big) data, the role of social sciences researchers has been enhanced, producing an emerging assemblage of tools and techniques for managing and making sense of such data. Furthermore, a web content analysis (WCA) approach could become the basis for the use of techniques that enhance the relational context in which the production of messages and texts puts itself. In light of these premises, our contribution aims to explore the way in which new research strategies of WCA—in particular the adoption of a mixed-methoda perspective that moves back and forth qualitative and quantitative approach—could be useful in the analysis of social media use and functions in the process of disasters implementation. As disaster social media framework includes users such as communities, governments, individuals, organizations, and media outlets, the use of a broader range of techniques in scientific study of disaster social media effects could facilitate the creation of disaster social media tools in the public communication field.