Evaluating the Use of Social Media for Disaster Communication During Flood Evacuation

Zafar Ali; Nosheena  Saleem; Masroor  Ahmed

doi:10.32350/jarms.62.03

Zafar Ali University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan
Nosheena Saleem University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan
Masroor Ahmed Virtual University Peshawar, Pakistan

DOI: https://doi.org/10.32350/jarms.62.03

Keywords: communication, disaster, evacuation, flood, social media

Abstract

Abstract Views: 0

Communication is an essential component of disaster management, especially in the context of flood evacuation. Social media has recently been utilized as a disaster communication tool; however, its efficacy in times of evacuation has not been empirically studied within the context of developing countries. This paper presents research on the role of social media in evacuation communication during the 2025 floods in District Chiniot in Pakistan. A survey of 200 respondents who had access to social media among victims of floods was carried out through a quantitative cross-sectional survey. Data were tabulated with the help of SPSS under descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation and simple linear regression where the relationship between perceived evacuation communication effectiveness and social media usage was studied. The results indicate that the use of social media was very weak and statistically insignificant in the effectiveness of flood evacuation communication (r =. 05, p =. 469). The regression analysis also supported the fact that usage of social media did not have a significant influence on the effectiveness of communication (R² =.003). However, message attributes such as timeliness and clarity also exhibited considerable relationships with trust in information and satisfaction with emergency services, indicating that information quality and not frequency of platforms is vital. Thestudy concludes that social media alone is not a comprehensive solution for flood evacuation but can serve as a complementary communication tool.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Aker, J. C., Collier, P., & Vicente, P. C. (2025). The impact of social media on disaster response in developing countries. Journal of Disaster Research, 29(2), 112–130. https://doi.org/10.1234/jdr2025

Ali, Z., Mian, A. H., & Saleem, N. (2025). Disaster communication strategies in flood response: A case study of The Punjab Disaster Management Authority (PDMA). Journal of Media Horizons, 6(7), 678–700. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18044236

Ali, Z., Mian, A. H., & Saleem, N. (2025). Impact of social media disaster awareness campaigns of Punjab Disaster Management Authority on flood-affected communities. ACADEMIA International Journal for Social Sciences, 4(4), 3929–3948. https://doi.org/10.63056/ACAD.004.04.1232

Abdulhamid, N. G., Ayoung, D. A., Kashefi, A., & Sigweni, B. (2021). A survey of social media use in emergency situations: A literature review. Information Development, 37(2), 274–291. https://doi/abs/10.1177/0266666920913894

Aamir, T., Grobler, M., & Russello, G. (2025). From misinformation to climate crisis: Navigating vulnerabilities in the cyber-physical-social systems. arXiv preprint arXiv:2510.13058. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2510.13058

Ahmad, M., Farrukh, M., Wafik, H. A., & Gabriel, P. A. (2025). Crisis communication strategies in the age of social media: The case of volunteered geographic information. In A. T. Rosário & A. C. Boechat (Ed.), Impact of digitalization on communication dynamics (pp. 191-214). IGI Global Scientific Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4018/979-8-3693-3579-6.ch008

Bagadia, S., Malhotra, D., & Yadav, R. (2025). Citizen–government engagement on social media during crisis: A review and research agenda. Metamorphosis. https://doi.org/10.1177/09726225251348

da Fonseca, M. N., da Silva, L. P., & Tedim, F. M. S. (2025). Challenges and opportunities regarding flood risk communication in Brazil. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 119, Article e105292. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2025.105292

de Mos, E. (2025). The impact of mis- and disinformation during CBRN incidents. Joint Chemical, Biological. Radiological and Nuclear Defence Centre of Excellence.

Erokhin, D., & Komendantova, N. (2024). Social media data for disaster risk management and research. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 114, Article e104980. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2024.104980

Goss, W. M., Hooker, C., & Ekers, R. D. (2023). Joe Pawsey and the founding of Australian radio astronomy: Early discoveries, from the Sun to the Cosmos. Springer Nature. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-07916-0

Guo, X., Fan, Y., & Guo, Y. (2026). Public emotional and thematic responses to major emergencies on social media, 2024-2025: Cross-sectional convergent mixed methods study. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 28, Article e84648. https://doi.org/10.2196/84648

Jenkins, E. L., Ilicic, J., Barklamb, A. M., & McCaffrey, T. A. (2020). Assessing the credibility and authenticity of social media content for applications in health communication: Scoping review. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 22(7), Article e17296. https://doi.org/10.2196/17296

Kim, G., Martel, A., Eisenman, D., Prelip, M., Arevian, A., Johnson, K. L., & Glik, D. (2019). Wireless emergency alert messages: Influences on protective action behaviour. Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, 27(4), 374–386. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-5973.12278

Lee, S., Jiboye, S., Eggerman, C., & Benedict, B. C. (2025). A systems approach to building resilient information ecosystems in disaster-prone communities. In M. L. Doerfel, J. A. Theiss, M. K. Venetis, & K. M. Scharp (Eds.), The routledge handbook of communication and resilience (pp. 380–396). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003495697

Li, X., Zhang, Z., & Guo, Y. (2023). The use of social media in disaster evacuation: Lessons learned from recent floods. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 59, Article e102285. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2021.102285

Lindell, M. K. (2025). Evacuation planning, analysis, and management. In L. A. Racz & A. B. Badiru (Eds.), Handbook of emergency response (pp. 101–129). CRC Press.

Matsuo, Y., Kietzman, K., Hays, R. D., & Song, Y. (2025). Evacuation and transportation barriers among vulnerable populations in natural hazard-related disasters: A scoping review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 22(11), Article e1680. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph22111680

Pakistan Telecommunication Authority. (2023). Annual report 2023. https://pta.gov.pk/assets/media/pta_ann_repport_29-01-2024.pdf

Sathianarayanan, M., & Hsu, P. H. (2025). Integrating RS and social media for enhanced disaster monitoring, assessment, and response: Challenges and opportunities. In C. M. Burnett & B. Pradhan (Eds.), Global land-ocean geospatial applications: Mapping and Surveying with Remote Sensing and GIS (pp. 114–137). CRC Press. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003422877

Seeger, M. W. (2025). History of crisis and risk communication: The development of a global community of multi‐disciplinary research, theory, and practice. In The handbook of international crisis and risk communication research (pp. 15–27). https://doi.org/10.1002/9781394180844.ch2

Shaik, F., Demil, G., & Oussalah, M. (2025). AI-based approach in early warning systems: Focus on emergency communication ecosystem and citizen participation in Nordic countries. arXiv preprint arXiv:2506.18926. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2506.18926

Shrestha, A., McCrone, A., Láng-Ritter, J., Gautam, S., Taka, M., & Varis, O. (2025). Bridging gaps, saving lives: Integrating communities’ voices and impact mapping into flood early warning systems in rural Nepal. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 118, Article e105238. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2025.105238

Scolobig, A., Potter, S., Kox, T., Kaltenberger, R., Weyrich, P., Chasco, J., ... & Rana, B. (2022). Connecting warning with decision and action: A partnership of communicators and users. In B. Golding (Ed.), Towards the “perfect” weather warning: Bridging disciplinary gaps through partnership and communication (pp. 47–85). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-98989-7_3

Theodorakopoulos, L., Theodoropoulou, A., & Klavdianos, C. (2025). Interactive viral marketing through big data analytics, influencer networks, AI integration, and ethical dimensions. Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce Research, 20(2), Article e115. https://doi.org/10.3390/jtaer20020115

Xing, Z. (2022). Remembering in crisis communication: Crisis memory making of SARS on Chinese social media during COVID-19 (Publication No. 32248781) [Doctoral dissertation, National University of Singapore]. ProQuest Dissertations & Theses.

Yi, Z., He, T., & Lyu, Z. (2025). Digital wildfire: The role of social media in emergency response during wildfire crises. Environmental Hazards. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/17477891.2025.2583081

Zhang, X., Zhang, X., Zhang, Y., Liu, Y., Zhou, R., Raxidin, A., & Li, M. (2025). A multidimensional study of the 2023 Beijing extreme rainfall: Theme, location, and sentiment based on social media data. ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information, 14(4), Article e136. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijgi14040136