Use of digital services for risk information occurs mostly during crises
Municipal websites about crisis preparedness receive relatively few visitors, but those who actively seek information are engaged. During a crisis, the demand for both risk and crisis information increases significantly, and public engagement intensifies.
Do residents access information about local risks and threats that municipalities provide through digital channels and websites? And how does the behaviour of digital users on municipal websites and services change if a crisis occurs?
In this study, researchers from the DURCOM project collaborated with Örebro Municipality to deepen the understanding of citizens’ digital behaviour regarding risk and crisis communication.
The municipality shared usage statistics from its website and other digital service platforms, covering periods before and during the pandemic. The collaboration also involved joint analysis and interpretation of the web data.
The results show that crisis preparedness webpages are not heavily visited, but those users who do seek out this information are engaged. When a crisis occurs, both the search for risk and crisis information and user engagement increase significantly.
Eriksson, M. & Engqvist, B. (2021). Medborgarnas beteende på kommunala webbsidor om risk, beredskap och kris: en pilotstudie. Myndigheten för samhällsskydd och beredskap/Örebro universitet (DURCOM Arbetsrapport 1). [DURCOM Working Report 1].
For more information, please contact: mats.eriksson@oru.se