Impact of Social Media Disaster Awareness Campaigns of Punjab Disaster Management Authority on Flood-Affected Communities

Abstract

The present research evaluates the efficacy of disaster communication messages issued by the Punjab Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) on social media and evaluates how such messages affected the population impacted by floods. The study uses a mixed-methods design to evaluate the features of communication in PDMA and their influence on shaping users' awareness, engagement, information-seeking, perceptions, and behavior change. The survey involved exposure, engagement, perceived usefulness, awareness, self-reported preparedness, and response behaviours. The interviews conducted from disaster related authorities have addressed institutional strategies, communication priorities, operational constraints, and public perceptions regarding flood events. The quantitative outcomes revealed that the higher the exposure to PDMA's social media messaging and the deeper the engagement, the greater the awareness of the disaster, active information-seeking, and reported behavioural intentions and safety behaviours. People also used social media in different ways, which suggests that the more time people spent on it, the more they saw and were aware of disaster content. The study universe was the flood disaster, which had been warned about in the districts of Punjab by the Punjab Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) in 2023. The targeted population comprised young social media users at two government colleges in the eight flood-affected districts. Disaster communication campaigns were studied from January 2023 to December 2023, and SPSS-23 was used to analyze the results. The final results of the study provided a significant insight into the interconnection between social media usage, disaster communication and behavioural change. The Pearson correlation showed a moderate positive association (r = 0.260) between the time spent on social media and awareness of disaster communication. This ‎implies that the more active people are on social media, the more they know about the risks of ‎floods, preparedness, and response. ‎The results are part of a broader concept for how social media can be used to enhance disaster communication and provide practical suggestions for future disaster campaigns on such floods.‎