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This study examines information exposure as the antecedent of different types of crisis response outcomes as well as the moderating influence of message quality and information overload in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Given that the pandemic has impacted the countries worldwide, we conducted a cross-country, two-wave survey in the United States and Taiwan. The results identified three types of media users based on their differential patterns of crisis information exposure—selective users, inclusive users, and cravers. Compared to selective users, inclusive users and cravers were more likely to engage in different types of communicative responses (i.e., information seeking and sharing, and information sharing without verification [ISWV]), which then helped them with support-seeking coping. In addition, information overload was the condition that influenced the extent to which inclusive users engaged in information seeking and sharing, and the subsequent coping. Cross-country differences were found such that information overload and ISWV played important roles in influencing crisis outcomes in the United States and Taiwan, respectively.

The rise of social media has coincided with the emergence of an expressive citizenship model that emphasizes the role of expression in networked environments centering on personal interests. Yet relatively little is known about how civic participation might develop from daily, general social media use. Drawing on communication infrastructure theory, this study uses two-wave survey data from Taiwan to investigate which types of Facebook users are more likely to become civic action takers and how. Results show that high public expressers—those who manifest higher levels of public expression (e.g., updating status)—have more integrated connectedness to the civic information sharing network, which in turn facilitates civic participation. This pathway to civic participation is relatively open to users with diverse levels of political interest. Overall, these findings help to explain how general social media users become civic action takers, presenting important implications for addressing inequalities in civic participation.

AbstractHumanitarian organizations involved in disaster risk reduction (DRR) play a major role in helping communities better cope with disaster risks. But a lack of research has hindered our understanding of how to equip organizations with the capacity to carry out effective DRR measures. To address this question, this study unpacks the determinants of humanitarian organizations' DRR performance. Survey data from 104 global humanitarian organizations revealed that external communication capacity was positively associated with organizational leaders' perception of organizational DRR performance both directly and indirectly via interorganizational collaboration and social media communication. In contrast, collaboration communication quality was positively linked to perceived organizational DRR performance indirectly via interorganizational collaboration and social media communication. These findings highlight the centrality of communicative and relational resources required for effective DRR performance, which helps long‐term community resilience building. Despite social media's importance for engaging with stakeholders, this research suggests that organizations should also use media channels beyond social media to build external communication capacity and improve DRR performance.

Building on the resilience literature, this study analyzes the response networks that were activated for four disasters during 2015–2016 (Cyclone Pam, the 2015 Nepal earthquake, Cyclone Winston, the 2016 Ecuador earthquake). The analysis shows that different interrelated resilient capacities are manifested in the activation of response networks. In particular, in exhibiting redundancy and robustness, disaster‐specific network structures are discerned. In both cyclones, response networks resemble a predefined cluster design, whereas in the earthquake disasters, networks are more fluid. Moreover, organizations' varied levels of prior response experiences help build the network's capacities of redundancy and resourcefulness. Implications are discussed in ways to advance contributions to research on resilience and disaster response networks.

Employing a bona fide network perspective, this study investigates the network processes and outcomes of organizational collaborative networks before and following Typhoon Haiyan, taking into account the influences of network factors, organizational attributes, and environmental exigencies. The analysis from an online survey with relief organizations and those organizations' Twitter data showed the consistent influence of past relationships on the formation of subsequent relationships after the disaster. In the on-the-ground network, a few highly active organizations stood out and engaging in multiple modes of communication with resource contacts was seen as an adaptive practice that helped organizations to build resource ties after the typhoon. In the online domain, organizations developed post-typhoon networks by means of becoming directly linked to one another and becoming equally resourceful in building their ties. In addition, different forms of resilience were observed as outcomes of collaborative networks. Findings of this study present theoretical and practical implications by unveiling the network dynamics of contemporary humanitarian actions.

This study investigates relationships between privacy concerns, uncertainty reduction behaviors, and self-disclosure among online dating participants, drawing on uncertainty reduction theory and the warranting principle. The authors propose a conceptual model integrating privacy concerns, self-efficacy, and Internet experience with uncertainty reduction strategies and amount of self-disclosure and then test this model on a nationwide sample of online dating participants ( N = 562). The study findings confirm that the frequency of use of uncertainty reduction strategies is predicted by three sets of online dating concerns—personal security, misrepresentation, and recognition—as well as self-efficacy in online dating. Furthermore, the frequency of uncertainty reduction strategies mediates the relationship between these variables and amount of self-disclosure with potential online dating partners. The authors explore the theoretical implications of these findings for our understanding of uncertainty reduction, warranting, and self-disclosure processes in online contexts.