Queensland authorities should consider using influencers \u2013 and fewer politicians \u2013 to better communicate with people during natural disasters, says a study that found there was a \u201ccritical need\u201d to modernise emergency messaging to counter misinformation on social media.<\/p>\n
Disaster briefings have become a rite of passage for political leaders in Queensland, and are often viewed as a test of leadership.<\/p>\n
Griffith University researcher Dr Susan Grantham, in a paper published in The Communication Review<\/a> this month, analysed government messaging, including press conferences and social media posts, from two recent natural disasters: Tropical Cyclone Jasper<\/a> in 2023, and Tropical Cyclone Kirrily<\/a> in 2024.<\/p>\n Grantham\u2019s analysis of the public communication found the reliance on political figures at disaster briefings during Kirrily \u201cdiluted critical safety messages, shifting the focus toward visibility rather than actionable advice\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThe briefings often became cluttered with political messaging, detracting from the delivery of critical safety information,\u201d Grantham said.<\/p>\n Sign up: AU Breaking News email<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThis imbalance risks public disengagement and reduced compliance with directives.<\/p>\n \u201cExcessive political involvement in crisis communication can erode trust and clarity, with broader governance commentary overshadowing immediate safety concerns.\u201d<\/p>\n At the same time, Grantham found there was no government content on TikTok<\/a> during TC Jasper, and very limited content on the platform during TC Kirrily.<\/p>\n The absence of official information allowed user-generated content to dominate. In some cases, that content included potentially dangerous messages, or misleading posts that contradicted formal advice.<\/p>\n The lack of \u201cinformal, engaging\u201d content \u2013 as opposed to the highly structured and technical nature of the public briefings \u2013 meant the government risked not reaching younger people, or losing control of the message.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile traditional briefings effectively conveyed authority, the absence of government content on TikTok during TC Jasper and the limited presence during TC Kirrily (only two videos from the Premier) highlighted a missed opportunity to modernise crisis communication.<\/p>\n \u201cThe absence of consistent official government presence allowed misguided information and risky behaviours to dominate.<\/p>\n \u201cGovernment agencies must establish a presence on platforms like TikTok to guide narratives and counter misinformation in real-time.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is a critical need for an integrated crisis communication strategy that balances the authoritative depth of traditional media briefings with the immediacy and participatory potential of platforms like TikTok.\u201d<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n Sign up to Breaking News Australia<\/p>\n Get the most important news as it breaks<\/p>\n Privacy Notice: <\/strong>Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy<\/a>. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy<\/a> and Terms of Service<\/a> apply.<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n Grantham\u2019s study found the prominence of \u201cuser-generated content\u201d on platforms like TikTok meant two local accounts with large followings became \u201ckey communicators\u201d during crisis preparations.<\/p>\n Grantham suggested governments \u201cshould consider formal partnerships with trusted influencers\u201d who could amplify offical messages on platforms like TikTok for younger demographics.<\/p>\n \u201cThis approach would ensure that accurate, actionable information reaches a broader audience while counteracting the spread of misleading information,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n At press conferences during preparations for TC Jasper and TC Alfred, authorities spoke about the influx of new residents to Queensland the importance of information reaching people who had not experienced a cyclone before.<\/p>\n Grantham said the rapid population growth would include many people for whom TikTok was a primary source of information.<\/p>\n \u201cTherefore, there is a strong chance they are relying on social media platforms to obtain information, and based on the trending TikTok data analysed in this study, this could have devastating effects.<\/p>\n \u201cFor instance, one video was posted by a woman who identified as a health worker and questioned what she needed to do as an essential worker based on the text message alert she had received. This TikTok from the data exemplifies the confusion that can be felt by those experiencing disaster events for the first time.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Queensland authorities should consider using influencers \u2013 and fewer politicians \u2013 to better communicate with people during natural…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":368775,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3843],"tags":[728,70,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-368774","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-environment","9":"tag-science","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115081551788595418","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368774","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=368774"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368774\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/368775"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=368774"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=368774"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=368774"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}