[RETRACTED ARTICLE] Analysis of Factors Affecting Social Media Disaster Information Sharing among Young Adults: An Empirical Study Using SEM-PLS Approach

The flooding crisis has raised significant public safety concerns, spotlighting the challenges and opportunities of leveraging social media in disaster management. Given the rising frequency of urban flooding in China, young adults social media information behaviours play a pivotal role in disaster responses. Therefore, this study explores the critical factors influencing disaster information sharing among young adults during extreme urban flood events. Using a quantitative research methodology, researcher conducted an online survey with 613 young adults from flood-prone urban areas. The structural analysis results confirmed that social media dependency significantly influences self-efficacy and perceived severity, all of which positively correlated with the intention to share urban flood information. However, no significant relationship was observed between social media dependency and urban flood informationsharing behaviour. The findings underscore the importance of prioritising consideration of individual psychological factors when formulating disaster communication strategies. Additionally, it offers distinctive insights into the prospective utilisation of social media in flood communication.