Abstract
This study examines the emerging use of social media in complex social phenomenon, natural disasters. By adopting an affordance perspective, we focus on how local communities harness the power of social media in disaster response. Using an interpretive approach, we identify different affordances of social media and examine how these affordances enable local communities in performing crisis response activities and achieving social outcomes in the case of 2015 Myanmar flood. The lack of theoretical development in research on societal consequences of emerging technologies (e.g. social media) makes this study timely, relevant, and worthwhile. Our findings demonstrate that social media transformed the way citizens, organizations, emergency responders, and government think and act creatively, improvising new means of addressing the challenges posted by a disaster. The study generates theoretical and practical implications for understanding the role of social media in addressing societal challenges in developing counties.
Recommended Citation
Mahlberg, Tim, "Alter-identity work via Social Media in Professional Service Contexts" (2017). ACIS 2017 Proceedings. 107.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/acis2017/107