The impact of focus, function, and features of shared knowledge on re-use in emergency management social media

Purpose - The purpose of this study is to investigate how organizations use social media such as blogs to share and re-used knowledge during contingencies, disasters, and emergencies. The factors related to the knowledge itself - rather than the media - which lead to more and less re-use (particularly in the fast-paced and uncertain context of emergencies) are not well known. Design/methodology/approach - Integrating theories of social media, knowledge management and mass communication, the author develops a model of the characteristics of knowledge (focus, function and features), characteristics of knowledge sharers and the user's needs, which influence the extent to which knowledge is re-used. Findings - A study of 645 blog posts revealed why some knowledge is re-used in emergencies more than other types of knowledge. Surprisingly, non-event-related knowledge is re-used more often than event-related knowledge, perhaps because users are less certain about how they would re-use non-event knowledge and, thus, are paradoxically more interested in what it might offer. Results also indicate several other factors which impact re-use. Practical implications - Traditional mechanisms used to evaluate knowledge for reuse such as rank and organizational status are less important than the focus and function of the knowledge itself; they offer practitioners strategies for more efficient knowledge sharing during emergencies and identify opportunities for more effective employment of emergency management social media. Originality/value - One of the first studies to dig deeper into factors of knowledge shared and re-used during emergencies, this research integrates several theoretical streams to explain why some knowledge is more valuable for re-use. It increases the understanding of knowledge sharing during disasters and offers strategies for development of knowledge systems for future emergencies.