Communicating shared situational awareness in times of chaos: Social media and the <scp>COVID</scp>‐19 pandemic

To effectively manage a crisis, most decisions made by governments, organizations, communities, and individuals are based on “shared situational awareness” (SSA) derived from multiple information sources. Developing SSA depends the alignment of mental models, which “represent our shared version truth reality we can act.” Social media has facilitated public sensemaking during crisis; however, it also encouraged model dissonance, resulting in digital destruction models undermining adequate SSA. The study is concerned with challenges creating COVID-19 pandemic Australia. This paper documents netnography Australian health agencies' Facebook communication, exploring initial impact creation. Chaos theory used as theoretical lens to examine perception, meaning, assumptions relating pre post-pandemic periods. Our highlights how “butterfly effect” swamped communication channel, leaving little space for other important issues. research contributes systems, science, communications illustrating emergence crisis impacts social creation SSA, what this means adoption purposes.