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Backpacking, Social Media, and Crises: A Discussion of Online Social Convergence

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Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism 2013

Abstract

The use of social media during a disaster or crisis event has become a topic of interest among scholars from various disciplines, including recent studies in tourism. The purpose of this paper is to explore how backpackers travelling in the midst of the crisis have used social media and how friends and family seeking information about the travellers have used this emerging media. The discussion is situated within a conceptual framework based on the concepts of ‘collective intelligence’, ‘Digital Social Convergence’, and ‘Hyperawareness’. Two main case studies of backpackers caught in a crisis are presented: a natural disaster (the Chilean earthquake in 2010) and political violence (the violence surrounding the protests in Bangkok in 2010).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Middlesex University, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    Cody Morris Paris

  2. Arizona State University, Tempe, USA

    Simon Rubin

Authors
  1. Cody Morris Paris
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  2. Simon Rubin
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Correspondence to Cody Morris Paris .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Faculty of Communication Sciences, Università della Svizzera italiana, Via Giuseppe Buffi 13, Lugano, 6904, Switzerland

    Lorenzo Cantoni

  2. , College of Merchandising,, University of North Texas, Union Circle 1155, Denton, 76203-1100, Texas, USA

    Zheng (Phil) Xiang

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Paris, C.M., Rubin, S. (2013). Backpacking, Social Media, and Crises: A Discussion of Online Social Convergence. In: Cantoni, L., Xiang, Z. (eds) Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism 2013. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-36309-2_18

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