Abstract
During a disaster, many people seek information from virtual communities. However, information overload, falsehoods and unrelated topics hinder information flow in virtual communities, putting disaster victims at risk. Given many disasters are generally of a short duration, we explore how virtual communities can quickly reconfigure themselves to respond effectively to a disaster. Drawing on risk society theory, our findings suggest reconfiguration is done via a series of cycles initially involving community members and subsequently featuring both community members and moderators working together to mitigate risks. We contribute to virtual community discourse on disaster response by showing how a virtual community can configure IT features to bring about change. Practically, we find transforming a virtual community from a normal to a disaster response mode requires (1) creating a controlled information hub, (2) promoting identity revelation and (3) allowing for temporary emergent hyperlocal leadership. While earlier IS research suggests that anonymity, openness and geographical dispersion are important for information dissemination in virtual communities, we suggest these practices may need to be changed during a disaster.
Recommended Citation
Hasan, M., Chua, C. E., Myers, M. D., & Bahar, V. S. (2025). From Normal to Disaster Response Mode: How can Virtual Communities Reconfigure Themselves to Respond Effectively to a Disaster?. Information Systems Journal Wiley.
The definitive version is available at https://doi.org/10.1111/isj.12583
Department(s)
Business and Information Technology
Publication Status
Open Access
Keywords and Phrases
disaster response; IT features; qualitative; reconfiguration; risk society; virtual communities
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
1365-2575; 1350-1917
Document Type
Article - Journal
Document Version
Citation
File Type
text
Language(s)
English
Rights
© 2025 Wiley, All rights reserved.
Publication Date
01 Jan 2025
