Twitter Use During a Weather Event: Comparing Content Associated with Localized and Nonlocalized Hashtags

Social media are becoming relied upon for information concerning large-scale weather events, crises, and other occurrences that pose potential risks. Little is known about the effectiveness of social media strategies in delivering information effectively to at-risk audiences, or the ease with which audiences can locate information. A content analysis examined a sample of 800 tweets retrieved using localized and national hashtags in the early stage of a major winter storm. Results are consistent with past research suggesting that Twitter may be used more for affective display than for information seeking. It also extends previous research by offering that actionable information appears to be more common with localized hashtags. Results are discussed in terms of implications for future research and practical applications.