An important concept that has been rather neglected in research on social media is the concept of trust. Although there is a considerable amount of research on online trust in general, little has been done in the area of social media. As a situation of risk is necessary for trust, the perceived trustworthiness of Facebook in crisis situations was examined in this study. A sample of 340 European Facebook users were questioned as part of a large European study about social media in the context of emergency situations. We found that participants' general trust toward Facebook as a medium predicted to a significant degree how much they would trust Facebook in a crisis situation. General use of Facebook and dispositional trust were also significantly associated with trust toward Facebook in a crisis situation.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
JinL, ChenY, WangT, et al.Understanding user behavior in online social networks: a survey. Communications Magazine, 2013; 51:144–150.
2.
WellsT, LinkM. Facebook user research using a probability-based sample and behavioral data. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 2014; 19:1042–1052.
3.
LuchmanJN, BergstromJ, KrulikowskiC. A motives framework of social media website use: a survey of young Americans. Computers in Human Behavior, 2014; 38:136–141.
4.
MunarAM, JacobsenJKS. Motivations for sharing tourism experiences through social media. Tourism Management, 2014; 43:46–54.
5.
RiegelsbergerJ, SasseMA, McCarthyJD. (2007) Trust in mediated interactions. In JoinsonAN, McKennaKYA, PostmesT, et al., eds. The Oxford handbook of Internet psychology. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, pp. 53–70.
6.
BeldadA, de JongM, SteehouderM. How shall I trust the faceless and the intangible? A literature review on the antecedents of online trust. Computers in Human Behavior, 2010; 26:857–869.
7.
CorritoreCL, KracherB, WiedenbeckS. On-line trust: concepts, evolving themes, a model. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 2003; 58:737–758.
8.
McKnightDH, ChoudhuryV, KacmarC. Developing and validating trust measures for e-commerce: an integrative typology. Information Systems Research, 2002; 13:334–359.
9.
WangYD, EmurianHH. An overview of online trust: concepts, elements, and implications. Computers in Human Behavior, 2005; 21:105–125.
10.
KaplanAM, HaenleinM. Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of social media. Business Horizons, 2010; 53:59–68.
11.
KietzmannJH, HermkensK, McCarthyIP, et al.Social media? Get serious! Understanding the functional building blocks of social media. Business Horizons, 2011; 54:241–251.
12.
RainsSA, BrunnerSR, OmanK. (2015) Social media and risk communication. In ChoH, ReimerKA, McComasA, eds. The SAGE handbook of risk communication. London, United Kingdom: SAGE Publications, pp. 229–239.
13.
KimDJ, FerrinDL, RaoHR. A trust-based consumer decision-making model in electronic commerce: the role of trust, perceived risk, and their antecedents. Decision Support Systems, 2008; 44:544–564.
14.
SchultzF, UtzS, GöritzA. Is the medium the message? Perceptions of and reactions to crisis communication via Twitter, blogs and traditional media. Public Relations Review, 2011; 37:20–27.
15.
McLuhanM. (1967) The medium is the message: an inventory of effects. London, United Kingdom: Random House, Gingko Press.
16.
McLuhanM. (2006) The medium is the message. In DurhamMG, KellnerDM, eds. Media and cultural studies: keyworks. Oxford, United Kingdom: Blackwell Publishing, pp. 107–116.
17.
DasTK, TengB. The risk-based view of trust: a conceptual framework. Journal of Business and Psychology, 2004; 19:85–116.
18.
HiltzRS, GonzalezJJ, Van de WalleB. (2012) Assessing and improving the trustworthiness of social media for emergency management: a literature review. Norwegian Information Security Conference, NISK, Bodø, Norway, pp. 1–11.
19.
LindsayBR. Social media and disasters: current uses, future options, and policy considerations. Journal of Current Issues in Media and Telecommunications, 2010; 2:287–297.
20.
ProcopioCH, ProcopioST. Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans? Internet communication, geographic community, and social capital in crisis. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 2007; 35:67–87.
21.
ShklovskiI, PalenL, SuttonJ. (2008) Finding community through information and communication technology during disaster events. ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work, San Diego, CA, pp. 127–136.
22.
AntoniouMN, CiaramicolMM. (2012) Social media in the disaster cycle—useful tools or mass distraction?64th International Astronautical Congress, Beijing, China, pp. 1–10.
23.
NeubaumG, RösnerL, Rosenthal-von der PüttenAM, et al.Psychosocial functions of social media usage in a disaster situation: a multi-methodological approach. Computers in Human Behavior, 2014; 34:28–38.
24.
SuttonJ, PalenL, ShklovskiI. (2008) Backchannels on the front lines: emergent uses of social media in the 2007 southern California wildfires. Proceedings of the 5th International ISCRAM Conference, Washington, DC, pp. 1–9.
25.
PerngSY, BüscherM, WoodL, et al. (2013) Peripheral response: microblogging during the 22/7/2011 Norway attacks. In Proceedings of the 9th International ISCRAM Conference, Vancouver, Canada, pp. 1–11.
26.
CasacchiaM, PolliceR, RonconeR. The narrative epidemiology of L'Aquila 2009 earthquake. Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences, 2012; 21:13–21.
27.
MendozaM, PobleteB, CastilloC. Twitter under crisis: can we trust what we RT?. Workshop on Social Media Analytics, 2010; [Epub ahead of print]; DOI: 10.1145/1964858.1964869.
28.
The American Red Cross (2009) Web users increasingly rely on social media to seek help in a disaster. Press Release, Washington, DC (August9, 2009).
29.
VeilSR, BuehnerT, PalencharMJ. A work-in-process literature review: incorporating social media in risk and crisis communication. Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, 2011; 19:110–122.
30.
BrionesRL, KuchB, LiuBF, et al.Keeping up with the digital age: how the American Red Cross uses social media to build relationships. Public Relations Review, 2011; 37:37–43.
31.
HallahanK. (2008) Organizational-public relationships in cyberspace. In Hansen-HornT, NeffBD, eds. Public relations: from theory to practice. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon, pp. 46–73.
32.
SzymczakH, KuecuekbalabanP, KnuthD, et al. (2015). Trust towards social media in emergencies: a perspective of professional emergency personnel in Europe. In StephanidisC, ed. HCI International 2015—posters' extended abstracts. New York, NY: Springer, pp. 123–130.
33.
WuK, ZhaoY, ZhuQ, et al.A meta-analysis of the impact of trust on technology acceptance model: investigation of moderating influence of subject and context type. International Journal of Information Management, 2011; 31:572–581.
34.
GreenMC. (2007) Trust and social interaction on the Internet. In JoinsonAN, McKennaKYA, PostmesT, et al., eds. The Oxford handbook of Internet psychology. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, pp. 43–52.
35.
YangS, HungWC, SunK, et al.Investigation initial trust toward e-tailers from the elaboration likelihood model perspective. Psychology and Marketing, 2006; 23:429–445.
36.
PettyRE, CacioppoJT. (1986) Communication and persuasion: central and peripheral routes to attitude change. New York, NY: Springer.
37.
Standard Eurobarometer 82. (2014) Media use in the European Union. http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/eb/eb82/eb82_media_en.pdf (accessed Oct.12, 2015).
