Microblogging after a major disaster in China

Abstract

In this work, we conducted a case study of a popular Chinese microblogging site, Sina-Weibo, to investigate how Chinese netizens used microblogging in response to a major disaster: the 2010 Yushu Earthquake. We combined multiple analysis methods in this case study, including content analysis of microblog messages, trend analysis of different topics, and an analysis of the information spreading process. This study helped us understand the roles played by microblogging systems in response to major disasters and enabled us to gain insight into how to harness the power of microblogging to facilitate disaster response. In addition, this work supplements existing works with an exploration of a non-Western socio-cultural system: how Chinese Internet users used microblogging in disaster response.