Message diffusion through social network service: The case of rumor and non-rumor related tweets during Boston bombing 2013

Social Network Services (SNS) such as Twitter play a significant role in reporting media, particularly during the extreme events. We examined the impact of tweet features on the diffusion of two types of messages during 2013 Boston marathon tragedy—rumor related and non-rumor related (both in the context of the Boston tragedy). Negative binomial analysis revealed that tweet features such as reaction time, number of followers, and usage of hashtag have an impact on tweet message diffusion during the tragedy. The number of followers showed a positive relationship with message diffusion. However, the relationship between tweet reaction time and message diffusion was negative. Finally, tweet messages that did not include hashtags diffused more than messages that contained hashtags. This paper contributes by adapting the innovation diffusion model to explore tweet message diffusion in Twitter space during extreme events.