© Media Watch 10 (3) 508-521, 2019
ISSN 0976-0911 E-ISSN 2249-8818
DOI: 10.15655/mw/2019/v10i3/49690
Malaysian Youth, Social Media
Following, and
Natural Disasters: What Matters
Most to Them?
Nurzali
Ismail, Jamilah Ahmad, Shuhaida Md. Noor, & Jayslyn Saw
Universiti Sains
Malaysia, Malaysia
This study attempted
to understand youth’s social media following during natural disasters. It
investigated Malaysian youth’s perception about the importance of immediacy,
trust, and accuracy of social media news and information during natural
disasters. This study found that youth prefer to consume social media news and
information during natural disasters such as flooding, landslides, and haze.
This is mainly contributed by the immediacy of news and information on social
media. Besides immediacy, youth also value trust and accuracy of social media
news and information during natural disasters. As the findings of this study
revealed, youth are more inclined to become followers to social media creators
who have a high level of trust and whom they believe can provide accurate
natural disasters news and information. Hence, it is crucial that the authority
and news organizations to provide natural disasters news on social media that
is timely and accurate.
Keywords: Social media, natural disasters, accuracy, immediacy, trust
The advances of digital technologies have significantly contributed to the
increase in access and usage of new media, particularly among youth (Dash &
Dash, 2019). In Malaysia, it was reported that, as of 2015, there were more
than 13 million Facebook users, and this was equivalent to about 45.2% of the
entire 30 million inhabitants in the country (Go-globe, 2015; Stats, 2015). While on Twitter, Malaysia has also been identified as one of the highest
contributors in information production (Graham & Stephens, 2012; Leetaru, Wang,
Cao, Padmanabhan, & Shook, 2013). These statistical reports confirm the high usage of social media among
Malaysians.
A closer look indicates that youth age 13-34 make up a huge percentage of
80.3% of the social media users in Malaysia. According to Mahadi (2013), the highest percentage of social media users in Malaysia are the 18-24
years old (34.5%), followed by youth age 25-34 (29.5%) and those in the 13-17
age category (16.3%). Ahmad and Ismail (2016) and Ismail (2014) elaborated that, Malaysian youth rely on social media to serve several
crucial functions such as, for connectivity (Mun, Li, & Fernandez, 2011), news and information sharing (Wok, Idid, & Misman, 2012), education (Hamat, Embi, & Hassan, 2012; Yin,
Agostinho, Harper, & Chicaro, 2014) and entertainment (Baboo, Pandian, Prasad, & Rao, 2013). This signifies how social media is being embedded in the youth’s everyday
lives (Dhaha & Igale, 2014; Subramaniam, 2014).
Social media can have both positive and negative effects on individuals and
the community at large, depending on the way how it is being utilized (Al-Saggaf, 2017; Siddiqui & Singh,
2016). The social media sphere enables anyone to become content creator, and
to freely interact with one another (Ojebuyi & Salawu, 2019). While
this is in general a good thing, it can also be misused and lead to serious
implications. For instance, in a study conducted to investigate Malaysian
youth’s information-sharing practice on social media, it was reported that they
are inclined to disseminate negative content online (Wok et al., 2012). Muniandy and Muniandy (2013) added, among the negative content frequently shared by the youth on social
media include rumors, slander, as well as inaccurate news and information. Negative
online content is deceiving, can incite hatred among people, and as a result,
may threaten social harmony and public security (Muniandy & Muniandy, 2013).
About natural disasters, it was reported that inaccurate news and
information were shared on social media during the recent major flooding and
landslides incidents (Mustafa, 2014). They were misleading, caused unnecessary panic, and made the rescue
efforts even more difficult (Mustafa, 2014). This is explained by Sannusi (2015), who elaborated that, the public in general, is very concerned about
natural disasters. Many of them are inclined to believe that information about
natural disasters, which is shared on social media to be true without
considering the trustworthiness of the news sources (Sannusi, 2015).
Taking into consideration youth’s inclination to share negative information
on social media, and the negative implication resulting from their sharing of
inaccurate news, this study aims to understand youth’s social media following
during natural disasters further. Hence, the following research questions were
asked:
RQ1: Why do youth use social media during natural disasters?
RQ2: How important is the immediacy of information to youth’s social media
following during natural disasters?
RQ3: How important is trust and accuracy of information to youth’s social
media following during natural disasters?
Social Media Usage During Natural Disasters
Considering
the high usage of social media among youth (Mahadi, 2013; Yusop & Sumari, 2013), it is expected that
they utilize the platform to share various news and information, including
about natural disasters (Mustafa, 2014). Based on examples from
the major flood incident in Queensland and the bushfire in Tasmania, Quodling and Potter (2014) reported that social
media sites such as Facebook and Twitter were used as important means of
communication by the public to convey information about the disasters.
Realizing the
importance of social media, particularly during a crisis, Facebook introduced
the Safety Check application, aimed to enable users to report on calamities,
including natural disasters and terror attacks (Victor, 2016). However, the
question remains, as to whether natural disasters information disseminated
through social media is accurate and useful.
As the ownership of digital technologies such as smartphone and tablet
continues to rise (Poushter, 2016), almost everything can be shared online,
making even dark clouds images look like a devastating hurricane that is going
to happen. This, together with inaccurate information gathered from unreliable
sources, have the potential to strike fear and create unnecessary panic and
chaos among the public (Sannusi, 2015). It is important to note, however, that
unlike the more traditional media such as television, radio, and newspapers,
information conveyed on social media is considered to be inferior in term of
credibility, due to the lack of gatekeepers and the ambiguity of its sources
(Li & Suh, 2015; Quodling & Potter, 2014).
Earlier studies reported that a reliable information source on social media
is professional media organizations, followed by family and friends (Mitchell,
Gottfried, Barthel, & Shearer, 2016).In spite of its flaws, the public
continues to use social media to get information and to share it with others in
the times of crisis. According to Fraustino, Liu, and Jin (2012), even though information shared on social media could not be easily
verified and may not be accurate, many are still inclined to utilise the medium.
They use social media to get the latest news about natural disasters, to know
the update of their family members and friends, to mobilise assistance and to
gain moral and emotional support (Fraustino et al., 2012).
One of the main reasons why the public prefers to use social media in times
of crisis is because of its immediacy in delivering the latest news and
information (Alejandro, 2010). During an adverse event of natural disaster, information disseminated
through social media spreads faster than facts provided by the authority (Winerman, 2009). This makes it difficult for the authority, who expects to be in control
of the flow of information in times of crisis. Like it or not, the way the
public consumes news has changed, from being passive to active consumers,
always on the hunt for the latest information online (Alejandro, 2010). Communication has become more open, with the public having the opportunity
to become content creators themselves (Alejandro, 2010). To overcome this situation, Winerman (2009)highlighted the needs of the authority to thoroughly understand the usage
of social media during natural disasters.
One way to thoroughly understand the usage of social media during natural
disasters is, by adopting the Social-mediated Crisis Communication Model (SMCC)
(Austin, Liu, & Jin, 2012; Jin &
Liu, 2010; Jin, Liu, & Austin, 2014; Liu, Jin, Briones, & Kuch, 2012). Originated from the work of Jin and Liu (2010), SMCC provides a useful framework to understand the interaction that takes
place between organizations in crisis, and the publics who are involved in the
information production and consumption, before, during, and after crisis (Austin et al., 2012). According to the SMCC model, the three main publics are; (i)
influential social media creators who produce information, (ii) social media
followers who consume information, and (iii) social media inactives who
indirectly consume information (Austin et al., 2012; Jin et al., 2014).
According to Austin et al. (2012), crisis information can be distributed either directly or indirectly
through social media. In SMCC, influential social media creators play a central
role in distributing information directly to their followers. On the contrary,
social media followers may distribute information indirectly to social media interactives.
Austin et al. (2012) added crisis information is directly distributed between social media and
the traditional media. Based on the SMCC model (Figure 1), Austin et al. (2012) proposed that, (a) the main motivation for the usage of social media
during crisis is mainly due to the fulfillment of informational and emotional
needs, (b) media have an indirect influence during crisis, and (c) information-seeking
behaviour is influenced by the source of crisis information.
Figure
1. Social-mediated Crisis Communication Model (SMCC) (Austin et al., 2012)
Based on the findings of the earlier studies who suggested that, social
media is generally preferred during natural disasters due to its immediacy in
providing the latest news and information (Alejandro, 2010; Fraustino et al., 2012;
Quodling & Potter, 2014; Sannusi, 2015), professional media organisations provide reliable social media
information (Mitchell, Gottfried, Barthel, &
Shearer, 2016) and the usefulness of SMCC model (Austin et al., 2012; Jin & Liu, 2010), this study tested the following hypothesis:
H1: Youth’s social media following during natural disasters is positively
related to their desire for insider information.
H2: Youth’s social media following during natural disasters is positively
related to the immediacy of information of the creators.
H3: Social media creators with a higher level of trust and accuracy are more
likely to get more youth following during natural disasters than those with a lower
level of credibility.
Methodology
A
total of 400 respondents were invited to take part in a paper-and-pencil survey,
which was conducted across four different parts in West Malaysia. The
respondents were between 18-34 years of age during the time of the survey, and
they must be users of social media. The justification for the selection of this
age group was made based on Mahadi (2013), who reported that
youth age 18-34 made up 64% of the social media users in Malaysia. Responses
provided in the survey were anonymous to ensure the privacy of the respondents.
As participation in the study is voluntary, one respondent decided to quit halfway
through the survey. Hence, the final number of respondents who completed the
survey was N = 399.
The questionnaire was divided into two main sections, which are (a) social
media awareness and practices and (b) social media following during natural disasters.
The internal consistency for all scale items in the questionnaire based on
Cronbach’s Alpha ranges between 0.706 to 0.936.
Results and Discussions
Respondents’ characteristics
The respondents of the study (N = 399) consisted of 39.3% male and 60.7%
female. The three social media sites that the respondents most frequently use
are Instagram (83.3%), Facebook (81%), and YouTube (75.7%). In term of
accessibility and time of usage, 94.0% of the respondents reported that they
access social media through mobile devices, and 85.0% prefer to use it at
night.
Social Media Awareness and Practices
The findings of this
study indicate that youth, in general, have a high level of knowledge about
social media. While youth appreciate the role of social media as an outlet for
them to get the latest news and information M = 4.22, they are also aware that
its content can be freely created and disseminated by anyone M = 4.18. This is
reflected in the low level of trust that youth have in the news and information
disseminated on social media M = 2.96. In spite of the low level of trust,
youth are still inclined to consume news on social media, and this is shown in
the moderately high mean scores of M = 3.76 and M = 3.89 respectively (See
Table 1). These findings reaffirm the important role of social media as a
source of news and information for youth (Madden, Lenhart, & Fontaine, 2017). To overcome the lack
of trust issue, youth are inclined to verify the news and information that they
consume using multiple sources and media platforms(Madden et al., 2017).
Table 1. Descriptive statistics: Social media awareness and practices
|
Awareness and practices |
Range |
Mean |
SD |
|
Social media enables me to update myself
with the latest news and information |
1-5 |
4.22 |
.735 |
|
I know that news/ information content on
social media can be created by anyone including me |
1-5 |
4.18 |
.835 |
|
I trust the news and information that I read
on social media |
1-5 |
2.96 |
.971 |
|
I use social media to search for news and
information |
1-5 |
3.76 |
1.078 |
|
I use social media to read news and
information |
1-5 |
3.89 |
1.004 |
Social Media Usage During Natural Disasters
This study found that social media is youth’s most
preferred source of news and information M = 4.15 during natural disasters such
as flooding, landslides, and haze, followed by online news portal M = 3.82,
television M = 3.71, print media M = 3.37, radio M = 3.08 and blog M = 2.82
(Table 2). When probed further on the characteristics of natural disasters news
that they follow on social media, the respondents of this study indicated that,
the information is quick and up to date M = 4.01, easy to navigate M = 3.95,
contains graphics which help to explain situation M = 3.89, short and precise M
= 3.84, can be trusted M = 3.16 and is reliable M = 3.11 (Table 3). Even though
it can be argued that youth’s preference towards social media as evidenced in
this study does not necessarily entail practice, it should be taken into
consideration that, the finding tallies with the previous occurrences of
natural disasters, where social media was utilized for communication,
information seeking and even for rescue efforts (Maron, 2013; Velev & Zlateva, 2012).
Table 2. Descriptive statistics: Youth’s media choices during natural
disasters
|
Media choices |
Range |
Mean |
SD |
|
Social media |
1-5 |
4.15 |
.910 |
|
Online news portal |
1-5 |
3.82 |
.959 |
|
Television |
1-5 |
3.71 |
1.091 |
|
Print media |
1-5 |
3.37 |
1.144 |
|
Radio |
1-5 |
3.08 |
1.123 |
|
Blog |
1-5 |
2.82 |
1.245 |
Table 3. Descriptive statistics: Youth’s characterizations of natural
disasters news and information on social media
|
Media choices |
Range |
Mean |
SD |
|
Quick and up to date |
1-5 |
4.01 |
.783 |
|
Easy to navigate |
1-5 |
3.95 |
.798 |
|
Contain graphics to help explain the
situation |
1-5 |
3.89 |
.789 |
|
Short and precise |
1-5 |
3.84 |
.786 |
|
Can be trusted |
1-5 |
3.16 |
.838 |
|
Accurate and reliable |
1-5 |
3.11 |
.841 |
Based on these findings, it can be ascertained that,
during the time of crisis including natural disasters, social media has become
the main source of news and information that is used by youth (Mis, 2016; Taylor, 2016). This is mainly due to its ability to provide information that is timely
and updated (Alejandro, 2010; Quodling & Potter,
2014; Sannusi, 2015). Other major factors such as increased internet and mobile access, as well
as convenience, also contribute to youth’s inclination to use social media as
the main outlet for news and information (Lenhart, 2015). Besides, it must also be noted that social media may be the only option
available, at a time when the other conventional communication methods fail or
are experiencing disturbance due to disasters (Velev & Zlateva, 2012).
Social Media Following During Natural Disasters
Correlation
coefficient and multiple linear regression tests were performed to test the
hypotheses. Correlation coefficient were performed to examine, (a) the possible
relationship between youth’s inclination to become followers on social media
and their desire for insider information during natural disasters, and (b) the
possible relationship between youth’s inclination to become followers on social
media and their needs for immediacy of information during natural disasters. Also,
multiple linear regression tests were conducted to predict youth’s following
based on trust and accuracy of social media creators. The social
media creators are divided into, (a) family and friends, (b) relevant
authorities and organizations handling the crisis, (c) local mainstream media,
(d) alternative media and (e) international media.
Based
on the finding in Table 4, it can be noted that the correlation
coefficient is r = 0.334, showing that there is a positive relationship between
youth’s inclination to become followers on social media and their desire for
insider information. P < 0.001 indicates that the coefficient is
significantly different from 0. Hence, it can be concluded that youth’s inclination
to become followers on social media during natural disasters, is positively
related to their desire for insider information. This finding, in particular, supports
Austin et al. (2012) who proposed that the fulfillment of
information needs, is one of the main factors that motivate the public to use
social media during the time of crisis. It was also reported that one of the
main reasons for using social media during natural disasters is, to obtain
unique and unfiltered information related to the incidents (Fraustino et al., 2012). This includes getting real-time information
from those who are experiencing the calamities, or from insiders who are at the
locations of the disasters (Fraustino et al., 2012).
Table 4. Correlation test between social media
following and desire for insider information
|
Variables |
|
To get insider
information |
|
Social media |
Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) N |
.334** .000 399 |
Note.
**Correlation is significant at 0.01 levels (2-tailed)
Table 5. Correlation test between social media
following and desire for an immediacy of information
|
Variables |
|
Immediacy of information |
|
Social media |
Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) N |
.411** .000 399 |
Note.
**Correlation is significant at 0.01 levels (2-tailed)
The finding in Table 5 shows that the correlation
coefficient is r = 0.441, indicating that, there is a positive relationship
between youth’s inclination to become followers on social media and their
desire for the immediacy of information. P < 0.001 indicates that the
coefficient is significantly different from 0. Therefore, it can be confirmed
that youth’s inclination to become followers on social media during natural
disasters is positively related to their desire for the immediacy of
information. This finding highlights the needs of the public for quick and
updated news and information in the times of crisis, which is afforded by the
immediacy of social media (Alejandro, 2010; Quodling & Potter,
2014; Sannusi, 2015). Citing Japan’s Tohoku earthquake incident in 2011, Mcseveny and Waddington (2017) also reported that, news of the disaster was
disseminated on social media much earlier compared to the conventional media.
Due to its immediacy, social media was heavily used by the public, as the main
medium for information seeking during the Tohoku disaster (Mcseveny & Waddington, 2017).
The finding in Table 6, which derives from a multiple
linear regression model, predicts youth’s social media following based on the trust and accuracy of news and information created/shared by family and
friends. It explains 10.2% of the variance. The significant regression equation
is [F (2,390) = 22.219, p < .000], with an R2 of .102. The
finding shows that the trust variable
makes the strongest unique contribution with the Beta value of .275, to explain
the dependent variable. The Beta value for the accuracy variable is lower at .071, indicating that it makes less
of a contribution. The significance value for trust is lesser than .05 (p < .05), which means that it makes a
significant unique contribution to the prediction of the dependent variable.
However, the significance value for accuracy
is greater than .05 (p > .05), which indicates that it does not make a
unique contribution to the prediction of the dependent variable.
Table 6. Multiple linear regression
model that predicts youth’s following based on the trust and accuracy of news
and information created/shared by family and friends
|
Model summary |
|
|
|
|
|
Model |
R |
R square |
Adjusted square |
R std. error of the estimate |
|
1 |
.320a |
.102 |
.098 |
.786 |
ANOVAa
|
Model |
Sum of squares |
df |
Mean square |
F |
Sig. |
|
Regression |
27.463 |
2 |
13.732 |
22.219 |
.000b |
|
Residual |
241.020 |
390 |
.618 |
|
|
|
Total |
268.483 |
392 |
|
|
|
Coefficientsa
|
Model |
Standardized
coefficients Beta |
t |
Sig. |
|
(Constant) |
|
11.028 |
.000 |
|
Trust |
.275 |
4.771 |
.000 |
|
Accuracy |
.071 |
1.233 |
.218 |
Table 7. Multiple linear regression model that predicts youth’s
following based on the trust and accuracy of news and information created/shared
by the authorities
|
Model summary |
|
|
|
|
|
Model |
R |
R square |
Adjusted square |
R std. error of the estimate |
|
|
.354a |
.125 |
.121 |
.695 |
ANOVAa
|
Model |
Sum of squares |
Df |
Mean square |
F |
Sig. |
|
Regression |
27.302 |
2 |
13.651 |
28.271 |
.000b |
|
Residual |
190.248 |
394 |
.483 |
|
|
|
Total |
217.549 |
396 |
|
|
|
Coefficientsa
|
Model |
Standardized
coefficients Beta |
t |
Sig. |
|
(Constant) |
|
13.413 |
.000 |
|
Trust |
.328 |
5.226 |
.000 |
|
Accuracy |
.038 |
.611 |
.542 |
The finding in Table 7 predicts youth’s social media
following based on the trust and accuracy of news and information created/shared
by relevant authorities /organizations responsible for handling the natural
disasters. It explains 12.5% of the variance. The significant regression
equation is [F (2,394) = 28.271, p < .000], with an R2 of .125.
The finding reveals that the trust
variable makes the strongest unique contribution with the Beta value of .328,
to explain the dependent variable. The Beta value for the accuracy variable is lower at .038, showing that it makes less of a
contribution. The significance value for trust
is lesser than .05 (p < .05), which indicates that it makes a significant
unique contribution to the prediction of the dependent variable. However, the
significance value for accuracy is
greater than .05 (p > .05), which means that it does not make a unique
contribution to the prediction of the dependent variable.
Table 8. Multiple linear regression model that predicts youth’s
following based on the trust and accuracy of news and information created/shared
by the local mainstream media
|
Model summary |
|
|
|
|
|
Model |
R |
R square |
Adjusted square |
R std. error of the estimate |
|
1 |
.354a |
.125 |
.121 |
.677 |
ANOVAa
|
Model |
Sum of squares |
Df |
Mean square |
F |
Sig. |
|
Regression |
25.869 |
2 |
12.935 |
28.191 |
.000b |
|
Residual |
180.314 |
393 |
.459 |
|
|
|
Total |
206.183 |
395 |
|
|
|
Coefficientsa
|
Model |
Standardized
coefficients Beta |
t |
Sig. |
|
(Constant) |
|
14.869 |
.000 |
|
Trust |
.162 |
2.414 |
.016 |
|
Accuracy |
.221 |
3.295 |
.001 |
In Table 8, we predict youth’s social media following based on the trust and accuracy of
news and information created/shared by the local mainstream media. It explains
12.5% of the variance. The significant regression equation is [F (2,393) =
28.192, p < .000], with an R2 of .125. The finding shows that the
accuracy variable makes the strongest
unique contribution with the Beta value of .221, to explain the dependent
variable. The Beta value for the trust
variable is lower at .162, indicating that it makes less of a contribution. It
is worthy to note, however, that accuracy
and trust have significance values
that are lesser than .05 (p < .05), which indicate that, both variables make
a significant unique contribution to the prediction of the dependent variable.
Table 9. Multiple linear regression model that predicts youth’s
following based on the trust and accuracy of news and information created/shared
by the local alternative media
|
Model summary |
|
|
|
|
|
Model |
R |
R square |
Adjusted square |
R std. error of the estimate |
|
1 |
.467a |
.218 |
.214 |
.718 |
ANOVAa
|
Model |
Sum of squares |
Df |
Mean square |
F |
Sig. |
|
Regression |
56.406 |
2 |
28.203 |
54.784 |
.000b |
|
Residual |
202.320 |
393 |
.515 |
|
|
|
Total |
258.727 |
395 |
|
|
|
Coefficientsa
|
Model |
Standardized
coefficients Beta |
t |
Sig. |
|
(Constant) |
|
11.566 |
.000 |
|
Trust |
.291 |
4.114 |
.000 |
|
Accuracy |
.203 |
2.867 |
.004 |
The finding in Table 9 predicts
youth’s social media following based on the trust
and accuracy of news and information
created/shared by the local alternative media. It explains 21.8% of the
variance. The significant regression equation is [F (2,393) = 54.784, p <
.000], with an R2 of .218. The finding indicates that the trust variable makes the strongest
unique contribution with the Beta value of .291 to explain the dependent
variable. The Beta value for the accuracy
variable is slightly lower at .203, implying that it makes less of a
contribution. It is important to note, however, that the significance values
for trust and accuracy are lesser than .05 (p < .05), which mean that both
variables make a significant unique contribution to the prediction of the
dependent variable.
The finding in Table 10
predicts youth’s social media
following based on the trust and accuracy of news and information created/shared
by the international media. It explains 34.3% of the variance. The significant
regression is [F (2,394) = 102.933, p < .000], with an R2 of
.343. The finding implies that the trust
variable makes the strongest unique contribution with the Beta value of .393,
to explain the dependent variable. The Beta value for the accuracy variable is lower at .224, indicating that it makes less
of a contribution. It is worthy to note, however, that the significance values
for trust and accuracy are lesser than .05 (p < .05), which indicate that,
both variables make a significant unique contribution to the prediction of the
dependent variable.
Table 10. Multiple linear regression model that predicts youth’s
following based on the trust and accuracy of news and information created/shared
by the international media
|
Model summary |
|
|
|
|
|
Model |
R |
R square |
Adjusted square |
R std. error of the estimate |
|
1 |
.586a |
.343 |
.340 |
.678 |
ANOVAa
|
Model |
Sum of squares |
df |
Mean square |
F |
Sig. |
|
Regression |
94.636 |
2 |
47.318 |
102.933 |
.000b |
|
Residual |
181.120 |
394 |
.460 |
|
|
|
Total |
275.755 |
396 |
|
|
|
Coefficientsa
|
Model |
Standardized
coefficients Beta |
t |
Sig. |
|
(Constant) |
|
11.411 |
.000 |
|
Trust |
.393 |
5.919 |
.000 |
|
Accuracy |
.224 |
3.368 |
.001 |
Based on the findings of the
multiple regression tests as shown in Table 6-10, it can be confirmed that
youth have placed varying levels of trust and accuracy towards different social
media creators, which have a profound implication on their inclination to
become followers or not as the findings of this study suggest, youth trust
international media organizations such as the CNN and BBC the most during
natural disasters (β = .393). They also believe that the international
media is the most accurate in delivering natural disasters news and information
through social media (β = .224), compared to other creators, including
family and friends, the authorities responsible handling the crisis, local
mainstream media and the local alternative media organizations. This is also
reflected in the significant positive relationship that is established between
trust and accuracy of news and information, and youth’s inclination to follow
the social media sites owned by the international media during natural
disasters. The lack of trust in the
local mainstream media is not surprising, considering the negative perception
that the huge majority of the Malaysian public has towards them(Omar, Ismail,
& Kee, 2018). According to the Reuters
Institute Digital News Report 2017, Malaysians, in general, have a trust issue
towards the local mainstream media, mainly due to the tight state control and
ownership, as well as the propagated political agenda (Newman,
Fletcher, Kalogeropoulos, Levy, & Nielsen, 2017).
Study Implications
Based on the theoretical lens provided by the SMCC model,
this study attempted to understand youth’s social media following during
natural disasters. It was found that social media is the youth’s most preferred
choice of media consumption during natural disasters. They prefer social media
over the other types of media, including newspapers, radio, and television,
mainly because of the immediacy provided. It was also found that the other
factor that influences youth’s social media following during natural disasters
is, due to their needs for the latest news and information. This finding, in
particular, reaffirms Austin et al. (2012) who indicate that youth utilize social media during the crisis to fulfill
their desire for insider information.
As the results of this study revealed, youth are more likely to follow news
and information created or shared by the social media creators whom they trust.
The likelihood for youth to become followers of news and information on social
media increases with a higher level of trust and accuracy that they have
towards the creators. Unlike the high level of trust that youth have towards
the international media, they perceive the other social media creators to be
lower in trust and accuracy. This is explained by The Media Insight Project
Report (2016) who indicate that, whether the public trust the social media information
or not, is very much influenced by their perception of the news source. Mitchell et al. (2016)added that the public is more likely to trust professional media organizations
who provide reliable news and information.
Based on the findings of this study, it can be ascertained that the
immediacy of news and information, along with trust and accuracy of the social
media creators, are important considerations for youth’s social media following
during natural disasters. Their usage of social media during natural disasters
is not entirely due to negative intention, such as to spread rumors, false news
and incite hatred as claimed (Mustafa, 2014; Muniandy & Muniandy, 2013; Wok
et al., 2012), but mainly due to their desire for the latest information
related to the natural disasters. Hence, it is vital for the authority who is
responsible with the handling of the crisis, to take into consideration of
youth’s needs during natural disasters, by providing information through social
media that is timely and accurate, to increase youth’s trust towards them.
Recommendations
As trust continues to be an issue to be dealt with (Newman et al., 2017), what can the authority and the local media do to improve it? As suggested
by The Media Insight Project Report (2016), trust lies within the realm of the public’s perception. Thus, to improve
trust means improving youth’s perception towards the credibility of news and
information disseminated by the authority and the local media. Hence, we
recommend that future studies to withw
withork with along the issue of trust, by uncovering the perception that youth
have towards the authority and the local media during the time of natural
disasters. It would also be fruitful for future research to explore further the
impact of different traditional and technological factors as suggested by Chung, Nam, and Stefanone (2012) in improving trust towards the local media.
Funding: This project was funded by
Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) under the Short Term Research Grant Scheme
(304/PCOMM/6313250).
References
Ahmad, J., & Ismail, N. (2016). Investigating
Malaysian youth's social media practice for crime prevention. In A. A. Azmawati
& R. E. Khan (Eds.), Social media in
Asia: Changing paradigms in communication (pp. 107-129). Newcastle, UK:
Cambridge Publishing.
Al-Saggaf, Y. (2017). Information sharing on facebook
by alone, single and lonely female users
SEARCH: The Journal
of the South East Asia research center for communications and humanities, 9(1), 97-116.
Alejandro, J. (2010). Journalism in the age of social media. Retrieved from University of
Oxford:
Austin, L., Liu, B., & Jin, Y. (2012). How
audiences seek out crisis information: Exploring the social-mediated crisis
communication model. Journal of applied
communication research, 40(2), 188-207.
Babu, S. B., Pandian, A., Prasad, N. V., & Rao, A.
(2013). Young people and new media in Malaysia: An analysis of social uses and
practices. Journal of arts, science &
commerce, 4(2), 50-56.
Chung, J. C., Nam, Y., & Stefanone, M. A. (2012).
Exploring online news credibility: the relative influence of traditional and
technological factors. Journal of
computer-mediated communication, 17, 171-186.
Dash, R. K., & Dash, A. K. (2019). The new media
and the promotion of ecological entrepreneurship. Media watch, 10 (2),
419-431.
Dhaha, I. S. Y., & Igale, A. B. (2014). Motives as
predictors of facebook addiction: Empirical evidence from Somalia. SEARCH: The Journal of the South East Asia
research centre for communications and humanities, 6(2), 47-68.
Fraustino, J. D., Liu, B., & Jin, Y. (2012). Social media use during disasters: A review
of the knowledge base and gaps. Retrieved
from College Park, MD:
Go-globe. (2015). Social
media usage in the Asia Pacific - statistics and trends. Retrieved from http://www.go-globe.com/blog/social-media-asia/
Graham, M., & Stephens, M. (2012). Geography of Twitter.
Retrieved from http://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/vis/?id=4fe09570
Hamat, A., Embi, M. A., & Hassan, H. A. (2012). The
use of social networking sites among Malaysian university students International education studies, 5(3),
56-66.
Ismail, N. (2014). Young
people's use of new media through communities of practice. (Ph.D.), Monash
University, Australia.
Jin, Y., & Liu, B. (2010). The blog-mediated crisis
communication model: Recommendations for responding to influential external
blogs. Journal of public relations
research, 22(4), 429-455.
Jin, Y., Liu, B., & Austin, L. (2014). Examining
the role of social media in effective crisis management: The effects of crisis
origin, information form, and source on publics’ crisis responses. Communication Research, 41(1), 74-94.
Leetaru, K. H., Wang, S., Cao, G., Padmanabhan, A.,
& Shook, E. (2013). Mapping the global Twitter heartbeat: The geography of
Twitter. First Monday, 18(5).
Lenhart, A. (2015). Teens,
social media & technology overview 2015. Retrieved from http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/04/09/teens-social-media-technology-2015/
Liu, B., Jin, Y., Briones, R., & Kuch, B. (2012).
Managing turbulence in the blogosphere: Evaluating the blog-mediated crisis
communication model with the American Red Cross. Journal of public relations research, 24, 353-370.
Madden, M., Lenhart, A., & Fontaine, C. (2017). How youth navigate the news landscape.
Retrieved from
http://www.pewinternet.org/2013/03/13/teens-and-technology-2013/
Mahadi, N. (2013, June 16, 2013). 13.3 million
Malaysians are facebook users. The Borneo
Post.
Maron, D. F. (2013). How
Social Media Is Changing Disaster Response. Retrieved from https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-social-media-is-changing-disaster-response/
Mcseveny, K., & Waddington, D. (2017). Case studies
in crisis communication: Some pointers to best practice. In B. Akhgar, A.
Staniforth, & D. Waddington (Eds.), Application
of social media in crisis management: Advanced sciences and technologies for
security applications Springer Nature.
Mediainsight. (2016). A new understanding: What makes people trust and rely on news.
Mis, M. (2016). More than half online users get news
from Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter: Study. Retrieved from
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-media-socialmedia-news-idUSKCN0Z02UB
Mitchell, A., Gottfried, J., Barthel, M., &
Shearer, E. (2016). The modern news
consumer: News attitudes and practices in the digital era
Mun, W. F., Li, L. M., & Fernandez, P. R. (2011).
Social life connects the world: Malaysian youth's usage behavior of social
network sites. International journal of
arts & sciences, 4(3), 157-178.
Muniandy, L., & Muniandy, B. (2013). The impact of
social media on social and political aspects in Malaysia: An overview. International journal of humanities and
social science, 3(11), 71-76.
Mustafa, A. F. (2014, Dec 31). Berita palsu, fitnah
memudaratkan. Berita harian.
Newman, N., Fletcher, R., Kalogeropoulos, A., Levy, D.
A. L., & Nielsen, R. K. (2017). Reuters
Institute digital news report 2017
Ojebuyi, B. R., & Salawu, A. (2019). We are not
parasites: Intergroup differentiation in the user-generated content of Nigerian
news media. Media watch, 10 (1),
145-164.
Omar, B., Ismail, N., & Kee, N. S. (2018).
Understanding the online consumption of public affairs news in Malaysia: A
strategic approach. Journal of Asian
pacific communication, 28(1), 172-194.
Quodling, A., & Potter, E. (2014). Is social media
responsible for your safety during a disaster? The conversation. Retrieved from
http://theconversation.com/is-social-media-responsible-for-your-safety-during-a-disaster-33138
Sannusi, S. N. (2015, Dec 23). Pengaruh media sosial
terhadap bencana alam. KOSMO!
Siddiqui, S., & Singh, T. (2016). Social media its
impact with positive and negative aspects. International
journal of computer applications technology and research, 5(2), 71-75.
Stats, I. W. (2015). Internet world stats.
Retrieved from http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats3.htm
Subramaniam, B. (Jan 5, 2014). On the social media
circuit. The star.
Taylor, D. (2016). Social media dominates way
millennials consume news, prompting alarm, Deloitte survey says. Retrieved from
Velev, D., & Zlateva, P. V. (2012). Use of social media in natural disaster
management. Paper presented at the ICITE 2012, Hong Kong.
Victor, D. (2016, Dec 29). Facebook’s safety check, now
automated, turns a firecracker into an explosion. The New York Times.
Winerman, L. (2009). Social networking: Crisis
communication. NATURE, 457, 376-378.
Wok, S., Idid, S. A., & Misman, N. (2012). Social
media use for information-sharing activities among youth in Malaysia. Journalism and mass communication, 2(11),
1029-1047.
Yin, J. L. S., Agostinho, S., Harper, B., &
Chicaro, J. F. (2014). The engagement of social media technologies by
undergraduate informatics students for academic purpose in Malaysia. Journal of information communication and
ethics in society, 12(3), 177-194.
Yusop, F. D., & Sumari, M. (2013). The use of
social media technologies among Malaysian youth. Procedia - social and behavioral sciences, 103, 1204-1209.
Correspondence to: Nurzali
Ismail, School of Communication, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 USM, Penang,
Malaysia. nurzali@usm.my
Nurzali
Ismail
(P.h.D., Monash University, 2015) is the Dean of the School of Communication,
Universiti Sains Malaysia
Jamilah
Ahmad
(P.h.D., Deakin University, 2005) is a university professor at the School of
Communication, Universiti Sains Malaysia
Shuhaida Md. Noor (P.h.D., The
University of Sydney, 2009) is a senior lecturer at the School of
Communication, Universiti Sains Malaysia
Jayslyn
Saw
is a Ph.D. candidate at the School of Communication, Universiti Sains Malaysia