The space between us: Twitter and crisis communication

Purpose A key concept within the wider practice of crisis informatics is situational awareness, which refers to the way that social media can be used to provide local, situation-specific information. This information may be used for disaster response communication and resilience building. This paper argues that, in this context, situational awareness relies on an overly literal interpretation of information sent via the micro-blogging service Twitter. Design/methodology/approach The paper reviews relevant literature, including work that seeks to establish social media as a key tool in terms of crisis informatics. It discusses relevant theoretical debates and uses recent examples to interrogate these concepts. Findings The paper identifies several issues that complicate the interpretation and application of information from Twitter during crises. Not only can misinformation circulate during disaster events, the relationship between complex meaning making processes, taking place both online and offline, is not yet well understood. Locating digital data in physical time and space can better illuminate the dynamics of communication on Twitter. Research limitations/implications This is a theoretical discussion paper. It requires empirical work to question and to develop its theoretical findings. Practical implications The paper discusses implications for designing crisis informatics tools. It suggests that the cross-referencing of data may assist in the verification and interpretation of tweet content in regards to situational awareness. Originality/value This paper advances an important theoretical discussion with practical implications in an emergent field in crisis communication. It highlights the importance of focusing on temporal and spatial parameters for better evaluating situational awareness.