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USGS and social media user dialogue and sentiment during the 2018 eruption of Kīlauea Volcano, Hawaii

Robert T. Goldman·Sara K. McBride·Wendy K. Stovall·David Damby
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Abstract

Responsive and empathic communication by scientists is critical for building trust and engagement with communities, which, in turn, promotes receptiveness toward authoritative hazard information during times of crisis. The 2018 eruption of Hawai‘i's Kīlauea Volcano was the first volcanic crisis event in which communication via the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) social media group, “USGS Volcanoes,” played a major role in providing eruption information to publics. Providing a concrete assessment of the social media effort during the eruption is necessary for optimizing future social media hazard crisis communication. We present qualitative and quantitative analyses of USGS Volcanoes' Facebook posts and over 22,000 follow-on comments spanning the 2018 eruption. Our analyses reveal that, for the 16 posts with the highest user engagement, USGS Volcanoes and informed non-USGS users directly answered 73% of questions and directly corrected or called out inaccuracies in over 54% of comments containing misinformation. User sentiments were 66% positive on average per comment thread regarding eruption information, and user feedback toward USGS Volcanoes, USGS scientists, or the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory was 86% positive on average. Quantitative sentiment analysis reveals a 61% correlation between users' overall expressed sentiments and frequency of the word “thank,” providing further evidence that social media engagement by USGS Volcanoes and informed users positively impacted collective user sentiment. Themes emerging from our qualitative thematic analysis illustrate how communication strategies employed by USGS Volcanoes successfully engaged and benefitted users, providing insights for communicating with publics on social media during crisis situations.

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90° N90° S · 180° W ← longitude → 180° E
Source-reported bounding extent: 19.21673343176832° to 19.550598333897398° latitude; -155.55563946921137° to -155.23742984943178° longitude. This indicates report coverage, not an exact sampling location. View area on OpenStreetMap.

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Robert T. Goldman, Sara K. McBride, Wendy K. Stovall, David Damby. 2024-02-22. USGS and social media user dialogue and sentiment during the 2018 eruption of Kīlauea Volcano, Hawaii. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2024.986974

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Officially social: Developing a social media crisis communication strategy for USGS Volcanoes during the 2018 Kīlauea eruption

The USGS Volcano Science Center has a long history of science and crisis communication about volcanoes and their eruptions. Centered mainly on websites, email notifications, traditional media, and in-person interaction in the past, our toolkit has expanded in the last decade to include social media channels. This medium has allowed us to communicate with both long-standing and new audiences in new ways. In the process, social media communication has further developed trust in USGS researchers. In particular, the nearly 4-month-long 2018 eruption of Kīlauea volcano in the State of Hawaii necessitated the rapid development of a communication strategy that more deeply incorporated web and social media (Facebook and Twitter) channels to share critical eruption information. This was the first major volcanic eruption response where the USGS used official social media accounts as a significant form of public communication and outreach. These timely and conversive interactions furthered engagement with residents and reinforced the USGS as an authoritative and approachable voice on the eruption with U.S. and international audiences. In many cases, USGS Volcanoes' social media channels were also sampled directly by media outlets looking to provide current information, particularly by local reporters and citizen journalists. This helped disseminate scientific information directly to those who needed it and removed pressure from observatory scientists to respond to media requests. In short, the conversational tone and engaged and inquisitive online audience allowed the USGS Volcanoes' social media channels to act as a virtual community meeting, which nurtured a nearly continuous educational environment for both directly affected and distant members of the public. We present the history and details of this strategy here in hopes that it will benefit volcano observatories and other official agencies and crisis communicators.

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