Threat or Opportunity? - Examining Social Bots in Social Media Crisis Communication

Understand

Crisis situations are characterised by their sudden occurrence and an unclear information situation.

• In that context, social media platforms have become a highly utilised resource for collective information gathering to fill these gaps.
• However, there are indications that not only humans, but also social bots are active on these platforms during crisis situations.
• Although identifying the impact of social bots during extreme events seems to be a highly relevant topic, research remains sparse.