Analyzing Barriers to Social Media Usage by NGOs in disaster preparedness phase: An ISM-Fuzzy MICMAC analysis

The use of social media (SM) is of paramount significance for enhancing the efficiency of organizations, particularly non-governmental organizations (NGOs), during the disaster preparedness phase (DPP). Despite this, NGOs involved in disaster relief operations have yet to exploit the potential of SM in DPP. Therefore, this study aims to identify the barriers influencing NGOs’ use of SM during the DPP, focusing on India. Moreover, this study establishes the interrelationships among these barriers. We identified the barriers through a comprehensive literature review and semi-structured interviews with domain experts. A structured set of questions was employed to delve into strategic issues to improve NGOs’ use of SM during the DPP. Subsequently, the interrelationships between these barriers were elucidated using Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM) and the Fuzzy MICMAC approach. The findings will assist practitioners and policymakers in formulating more effective policies to harness social media’s benefits and improve disaster-relief operations’ performance.