Table 4. Conclusions and theoretical and... | Emerald Publishing

Table 4.

Conclusions and theoretical and managerial implications

Conclusions	Theoretical and managerial implications
High level of social alarm created by crisis/emergency situations generates misinformation and negative emotional factors	In crisis/emergency situations, lack of information generates high-level social alarm and proliferation of backchannel accounts where misinformation is predominant. Psychological and sensational content have especially powerful impact on dissemination of information in backchannel accounts. Official accounts must avoid failing to provide information and monitor false information in emergencies to promote effective coordination with unofficial sources
Combining video with emotional and identifying content is fundamental for achieving a high rate of diffusion in unofficial accounts or backchannels.	These three factors together improve reliability of information and generate engagement through content dissemination. Implementing this configuration in official information sources’ content can increase dissemination of reliable content
Other combinations with high rates of content dissemination in backchannel accounts are: (1) hashtag, emotional, identifying, and sensational content; (2) hashtag, emotional, identifying, and video content.	It is important to identify all the most influential combinations in the spread of information through backchannels, because implementing coordinated strategies between official and unofficial channels could reach and attract a larger audience for reliable content
Coexistence of backchannel and official accounts	The wealth of characteristics of content disseminated in backchannel accounts and their successful configurations makes it strongly inadvisable to delete these unofficial channels. Other solutions should be considered for emergency crisis management, such as data mining or collaborative solutions

Conclusions	Theoretical and managerial implications
High level of social alarm created by crisis/emergency situations generates misinformation and negative emotional factors	In crisis/emergency situations, lack of information generates high-level social alarm and proliferation of backchannel accounts where misinformation is predominant. Psychological and sensational content have especially powerful impact on dissemination of information in backchannel accounts. Official accounts must avoid failing to provide information and monitor false information in emergencies to promote effective coordination with unofficial sources
Combining video with emotional and identifying content is fundamental for achieving a high rate of diffusion in unofficial accounts or backchannels.	These three factors together improve reliability of information and generate engagement through content dissemination. Implementing this configuration in official information sources’ content can increase dissemination of reliable content
Other combinations with high rates of content dissemination in backchannel accounts are: (1) hashtag, emotional, identifying, and sensational content; (2) hashtag, emotional, identifying, and video content.	It is important to identify all the most influential combinations in the spread of information through backchannels, because implementing coordinated strategies between official and unofficial channels could reach and attract a larger audience for reliable content
Coexistence of backchannel and official accounts	The wealth of characteristics of content disseminated in backchannel accounts and their successful configurations makes it strongly inadvisable to delete these unofficial channels. Other solutions should be considered for emergency crisis management, such as data mining or collaborative solutions