The role of social networking sites in responding to crises and disastersCase study: “facebook users among tishreen university students”

Abstract

The aim of this research is to determine the role of Facebook in responding to crises and disasters, and the effect of variables (gender, place of residence, academic degree, number of years of using Facebook), in that. In order to achieve the research objectives, the descriptive analytical method was used by designing a questionnaire and distributing it to a sample of “Facebook users among Tishreen University students amounted to (768) male and female students, and the research reached the following results:

The research sample members’ agreement on the role of Facebook as a means of communication during crises and disasters was moderate, and as a source

of information during crises and disasters was high.

The agreement of the research sample members on the negative role of Facebook during crises and disasters was moderate.

There are no statistically significant differences between the average scores of the research sample’s responses to the questionnaire on the role of Facebook “in responding to crises and disasters according to the variables of gender and academic degree, while statistically significant differences were found with the exception of the axis (the negative role of Facebook) according to the variable of place of residence in favor of the students.” Residents of the city, and according to the variable number of years of using Facebook (in favor of students who have been using Facebook for more than five years)