Stakeholders' Use of Microblogging to Engage in Emotion Strategies During a Crisis

The rise of microblogging has drastically transformed the ways in which people become aware of, talk about, experience, and respond to crises. Microblogging allows for multiple stakeholders to express and manage emotions that a crisis may trigger. This research examines how multiple stakeholders engage in emotion strategies through microblogging over the course of a crisis. Relying upon and extending emerging literatures on crisis management and the psycho-sociology of emotions, we propose the concept of emotion strategies to explore and elaborate upon the different uses of emotions and their crucial importance in a crisis context. We examine how microblogging features and affordances might enable and shape the emotion strategies of various stakeholders involved in a crisis. We outline the details of an ongoing investigation in the context of the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill and provide illustrative insights. We conclude by highlighting future steps in this research and expected contributions.