Do online social networks generate social capital, which, in turn, increases resilience to disasters? How might one answer this question? For example, could we analyze Twitter data to capture levels of social capital in a given country? If so, do countries with higher levels of social capital (as measured using Twitter) demonstrate greater resiliences to disasters?
These causal loops are fraught with all kinds of intervening variables, daring assumptions and econometric nightmares. But the link between social capital and disaster resilience is increasingly accepted. In “Building Resilience: Social Capital in Post-Disaster Recover,” Daniel Aldrich draws on both qualitative and quantita-tive evidence to demonstrate that “social resources, at least as much as material ones, prove to be the foundation for resilience and recovery.” A concise summary of his book is available in my previous blog post.
So the question that follows is whether the link between social media, i.e., online social networks and social capital can be established. “Although real-world organizations […] have demonstrated their effectiveness at building bonds, virtual communities are the next frontier for social capital-based policies,” writes Aldrich. Before we jump into the role of online social networks, however, it is important to recognize the function of “offline” communities in disaster response and resilience.
“During the disaster and right after the crisis, neighbors and friends—not private firms, government agencies, or NGOs—provide the necessary resources for resilience.” To be sure, “the lack of systematic assistance from government and NGOs [means that] neighbors and community groups are best positioned to undertake efficient initial emergency aid after a disaster. Since ‘friends, family, or coworkers of victims and also passersby are always the first and most effective responders, “we should recognize their role on the front line of disasters.”
In sum, “social ties can serve as informal insurance, providing victims with information, financial help and physical assistance.” This informal insurance, “or mutual assistance involves friends and neighbors providing each other with information, tools, living space, and other help.” Data driven research on tweets posted during disasters reveal that many provide victims with information, help, tools, living space, assistance and other help. But this support is also provided to complete strangers since it is shared openly and publicly on Twitter. “[…] Despite—or perhaps because of—horrendous conditions after a crisis, survivors work together to solve their problems; […] the amount of (bounding) social capital seems to increase under difficult conditions.” Again, this bonding is not limited to offline dynamics but occurs also within and across online social networks. The tweet below was posted in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.
“By providing norms, information, and trust, denser social networks can implement a faster recovery.” Such norms also evolve on Twitter, as does information sharing and trust building. So is the degree of activity on Twitter directly proportional to the level of community resilience?
This data-driven study, “Do All Birds Tweet the Same? Characterizing Twitter Around the World,” may shed some light in this respect. The authors, Barbara Poblete, Ruth Garcia, Marcelo Mendoza and Alejandro Jaimes, analyze various aspects of social media–such as network structure–for the ten most active countries on Twitter. In total, the working dataset consisted close to 5 million users and over 5 billion tweets. The study is the largest one carried out to date on Twitter data, “and the first one that specifically examines differences across different countries.”
The network statistics per country above reveals that Japan, Canada, Indonesia and South Korea have highest percentage of reciprocity on Twitter. This is important because according to Poblet et al., “Network reciprocity tells us about the degree of cohesion, trust and social capital in sociology.” In terms of network density, “the highest values correspond to South Korea, Netherlands and Australia.” Incidentally, the authors find that “communities which tend to be less hierarchical and more reciprocal, also displays happier language in their content updates. In this sense countries with high conversation levels (@) … display higher levels of happiness too.”
If someone is looking for a possible dissertation topic, I would recommend the following comparative case study analysis. Select two of the four countries with highest percentage of reciprocity on Twitter: Japan, Canada, Indonesia and South Korea. The two you select should have a close “twin” country. By that I mean a country that has many social, economic and political factors in common. The twin countries should also be in geographic proximity to each other since we ultimately want to assess how they weather similar disasters. The paired can-didates that come to mind are thus: Canada & US and Indonesia & Malaysia.
Next, compare the countries’ Twitter networks, particularly degrees of recipro-city since this metric appears to be a suitable proxy for social capital. For example, Canada’s reciprocity score is 26% compared to 19% for the US. In other words, quite a difference. Next, identify recent disasters that both countries have experienced. Do the affected cities in the respective countries weather the disasters differently? Is one community more resilient than the other? If so, do you find a notable quantitative difference in their Twitter networks and degrees of reciprocity? If so, does a subsequent comparative qualitative analysis support these findings?
As cautioned earlier, these causal loops are fraught with all kinds of intervening variables, daring assumptions and econometric nightmares. But if anyone wants to brave the perils of applied social science research, and finds the above re-search questions of interest, then please do get in touch!