Emotions in social media: An analysis of tweet responses to MH370 search suspension announcement

• Main Authors: YEO, Su Lin, PANG, Augustine, CHEONG, Michelle L. F., YEO, Tye Shi Jerome Quincy
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2020
• Subjects: integrated crisis mapping model; crisis communications; emotions in social media; tweet messages; corporate reputation; Asian Studies; Business and Corporate Communications; Organizational Communication; Social Media
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/lkcsb_research/6453; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/lkcsb_research/article/7452/viewcontent/Emotions_Tweets_MH_av.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

Considered one of the deadliest incidents in the history of aviation crises and labelled a “continuing mystery,” the ongoing search for the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 offers no closure. With endless media attention, and negative reactions of stakeholders to every decision made by the airline, this study investigates the types of emotions found in social media posted by publics to the MH370 search suspension announcement. It content analyzed 5,062 real-time tweet messages guided by the revised integrated crisis mapping model. Our findings indicated that, in addition to the four original emotions posited, there was a fifth emotion because of the long-drawn crisis and only two dominant emotions were similar to the model. A redrawn version to better encapsulate all the emotions is offered for one quadrant in the model. Implications for both crisis communication scholarship and the importance of social listening for organizations are discussed.