Spreading Like a Wildfire - Online and Offline: A qualitative analysis of Facebook as a crisis communication tool in Sweden

Abstract: As the climate on our planet is changing, natural disasters are occurring increasingly often, and Sweden is not an exception. At the same time, Facebook and other social media are more frequently used as crisis communication tools among public organizations. Traditionally, research within the field of Crisis Communication is pursued from a management perspective, and therefore this thesis uses a recipient perspective. With a starting point in the 2014 wildfire in the County of Västmanland, the greatest fire in modern Swedish history, this thesis explores what kind of information the public wants from a public organization on Facebook during a disaster, and how they prefer it to be communicated. Using qualitative interviews a conclusion is reached, which suggests that the public wants correct and local information to be communicated in a quick and personal manner, and that trust is an essential factor in how the crisis communication on Facebook is perceived. This thesis was written by all three authors to an equal extent.