Enhancing Forest Fire Communication: A Case Study of Oregon Government Social Media

Forest fires pose an escalating threat, demanding effective communication strategies for communities. While past research underscores the importance of community involvement and transparent communication, the dominance of social media in today's media landscape calls for a reassessment. This study investigates the utilization of social media, specifically Facebook, by the Oregon government during the 2022 fire season in the Lane County and Wallowa County regions. Through Facepageran application for automated data retrieval, 4,576 posts and comments from Cedar Creek Fire and Double Creek Fire Facebook page were collected. Using the multi-coder approach and the Vader Algorithm, the data were analyzed focusing on post frequency, thematic content, and user sentiments. The result reveals that positive sentiment polarity scores were observed with 0.61 and 0.71 for Cedar Creek and Double Creek Fire, respectively. However, the thematic and post-frequency analysis suggest a need for government agencies to diversify their social media page content to cater to different informational needs and preferences. Additionally, timely updates, factual information, interactive engagement, and an emphasis on the scientific aspects of wildfires were identified as critical areas for improvement. The findings offer valuable insights for enhancing risk communication strategies, promoting informed public engagement, and guiding effective government communication in wildfire scenarios.