Impact of social media on risk communication before, during, and after the La Palma eruption (Canary Islands)

There has been an unprecedented growth in the use of personal communication technologies in the last decade, including the use of social media platforms (Cheng et al., 2022). Leading to increased public interest in natural hazards generally, but with specific interests in rare and impactful volcanic eruptions, in particular on social media and media sharing platforms. Unlike traditional media, social media is a bi-directional communication tool that enables critical information to be rapidly transferred and disseminated (Graham, 2024), enabling multi-source geospatial near real-time discussions, but also for materials to be shared and collected direct from unofficial sources (e.g. general public and media sources). Use of internet- enabled mobile appliances has empowered the general public to broadcast images and/or videos of eruptions and associated volcanic impacts, enabling people to express attitudes and knowledge (including incorrect information) and experiences of eruptions through their own personal stories and commentaries. The growth of organisations such as Twitter, has facilitated a multigenerational network of independent reporters, who can comment and record their thoughts in near real-time, offering valuable insights into how understanding of hazard and risk can develop and evolve before, during and after an eruption/event. There has to date, been limited analysis (e.g. Sennert et al., 2017) of how such near real-time information can shape and be incorporated into risk management and planning, how it can be most effectively used by different organisations during events, and the potential threats/challenges from misinformation .

La Palma, is situated to the northwest of the Canary Islands, being the most active island among the archipelago, having experienced eight historical eruptions. The recent 2021 eruption on La Palma (Gonzalez, 2022), the largest eruptive event in recorded history on the island, highlighted the opportunities offered by media sharing platforms based on the wealth of information disseminated by individuals and organisations (Wadsworth et al, 2022). The eruption also permits a pertinent reflection on how disaster risk communication and management was handled during the event, following a ~50-year period of quiescence in volcanic activity, which resulted in a reduction in public awareness, poor public perception and self-resilience to volcanic hazards.
It is clear that social media can bring a range of opportunities for successful risk communication, but it also presents challenges; communication on social media is driven by a fast and continuous flow of fragmented and unconnected news reports by both official and unofficial sources leading to higher threats from misinformation and disinformation; however, effective communication before, during, and after an eruption can reduce the potential impacts. The inherent infrequent nature of volcanic eruptions offers a rare opportunity to reflect and improve our approaches to risk communication and reduction by incorporating new and emerging technologies and platforms. This project is a perfect combination of qualitative and quantitative research and opens up communication about hazard risk perception at different scales.
References
Cheng, Y., Wang, Y. and Kong, Y. 2022. The state of social-mediated crisis communication research through the lens of global scholars:anupdatedassessment.PublicRelationsReview,48,102172, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2022.102172;

González P.J. (2022) Volcano-tectonic control of Cumbre Vieja, Science, 375, 348-1349, https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abn5148;

Graham O. Thomas T., Hicks A., Edwards S., Juman A., Ramroop A., Robertson R. (2024) Facts, faith and Facebook: science communication during the 2020 -21 La Soufrière, St Vincent volcanic eruption, Geological Society, London, Special Publications, Vol 539, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP539-2022-289;

Sennert, S.S.K., Klemetti, E.W., Bird, D