Tips, Tidings, and Tech: Governmental Communication on Facebook During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Ehsan Ul Haq; Tristan Braud; Lik Hang Lee; Reza Hadi Mogavi; He Zhang; Pan Hui

doi:10.1145/3543434.3543642

Tips, Tidings, and Tech: Governmental Communication on Facebook During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Ehsan Ul Haq, Tristan Braud, Lik Hang Lee, Reza Hadi Mogavi, He Zhang, Pan Hui

Research output: Chapter in book / Conference proceeding › Conference article published in proceeding or book › Academic research › peer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic led governments to rely on the versatility of social media to communicate with their citizens. This paper analyzes the Facebook communication of political leaders and health departments from 17 countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. We evaluate the citizen's response under the frameworks of media richness and user engagement. We note that governments and leaders communicate primarily through richer media (photos and videos), despite a negative correlation between media richness and user engagement. Plain-Text messages posted by country leaders attract the most engagement, while their COVID-19 communication tends to generate lower engagement. On the other hand, health departments' pages experienced a sharp increase in engagement around COVID-19 communication as citizens sought information during the pandemic. Finally, topical analysis shows that Discussions and Co-Use of COVID-19 with other topics can boost citizens' engagement. Our comparative analysis shows practical implications for social media users and social media designers. Our findings can help governments and organizations design effective social media communication during crises.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Proceedings of the 23rd Annual International Conference on Digital Government Research
Subtitle of host publication	Intelligent Technologies, Governments and Citizens, DGO 2022
Editors	Loni Hagen, Mihkel Solvak, Sungsoo Hwang
Publisher	Association for Computing Machinery
Pages	105-117
Number of pages	13
ISBN (Electronic)	9781450397490
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1145/3543434.3543642
Publication status	Published - 15 Jun 2022
Externally published	Yes
Event	23rd Annual International Conference on Digital Government Research: Intelligent Technologies, Governments and Citizens, DGO 2022 - Virtual, Online, Korea, Republic of Duration: 15 Jun 2022 → 17 Jun 2022

Publication series

Name	ACM International Conference Proceeding Series

Conference

Conference	23rd Annual International Conference on Digital Government Research: Intelligent Technologies, Governments and Citizens, DGO 2022
Country/Territory	Korea, Republic of
City	Virtual, Online
Period	15/06/22 → 17/06/22

Keywords

Citizen Engagement
COVID-19
Media Richness
Risk Communication
Social Media

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Software
Human-Computer Interaction
Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
Computer Networks and Communications

More information

10.1145/3543434.3543642

Cite this

Haq, E. U., Braud, T., Lee, L. H., Mogavi, R. H., Zhang, H., & Hui, P. (2022). Tips, Tidings, and Tech: Governmental Communication on Facebook During the COVID-19 Pandemic. In L. Hagen, M. Solvak, & S. Hwang (Eds.), Proceedings of the 23rd Annual International Conference on Digital Government Research: Intelligent Technologies, Governments and Citizens, DGO 2022 (pp. 105-117). (ACM International Conference Proceeding Series). Association for Computing Machinery. https://doi.org/10.1145/3543434.3543642

Haq, Ehsan Ul ; Braud, Tristan ; Lee, Lik Hang et al. / Tips, Tidings, and Tech: Governmental Communication on Facebook During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Proceedings of the 23rd Annual International Conference on Digital Government Research: Intelligent Technologies, Governments and Citizens, DGO 2022. editor / Loni Hagen ; Mihkel Solvak ; Sungsoo Hwang. Association for Computing Machinery, 2022. pp. 105-117 (ACM International Conference Proceeding Series).

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abstract = "The COVID-19 pandemic led governments to rely on the versatility of social media to communicate with their citizens. This paper analyzes the Facebook communication of political leaders and health departments from 17 countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. We evaluate the citizen's response under the frameworks of media richness and user engagement. We note that governments and leaders communicate primarily through richer media (photos and videos), despite a negative correlation between media richness and user engagement. Plain-Text messages posted by country leaders attract the most engagement, while their COVID-19 communication tends to generate lower engagement. On the other hand, health departments' pages experienced a sharp increase in engagement around COVID-19 communication as citizens sought information during the pandemic. Finally, topical analysis shows that Discussions and Co-Use of COVID-19 with other topics can boost citizens' engagement. Our comparative analysis shows practical implications for social media users and social media designers. Our findings can help governments and organizations design effective social media communication during crises.",

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Haq, EU, Braud, T, Lee, LH, Mogavi, RH, Zhang, H & Hui, P 2022, Tips, Tidings, and Tech: Governmental Communication on Facebook During the COVID-19 Pandemic. in L Hagen, M Solvak & S Hwang (eds), Proceedings of the 23rd Annual International Conference on Digital Government Research: Intelligent Technologies, Governments and Citizens, DGO 2022. ACM International Conference Proceeding Series, Association for Computing Machinery, pp. 105-117, 23rd Annual International Conference on Digital Government Research: Intelligent Technologies, Governments and Citizens, DGO 2022, Virtual, Online, Korea, Republic of, 15/06/22. https://doi.org/10.1145/3543434.3543642

Tips, Tidings, and Tech: Governmental Communication on Facebook During the COVID-19 Pandemic. / Haq, Ehsan Ul; Braud, Tristan; Lee, Lik Hang et al.
Proceedings of the 23rd Annual International Conference on Digital Government Research: Intelligent Technologies, Governments and Citizens, DGO 2022. ed. / Loni Hagen; Mihkel Solvak; Sungsoo Hwang. Association for Computing Machinery, 2022. p. 105-117 (ACM International Conference Proceeding Series).

Research output: Chapter in book / Conference proceeding › Conference article published in proceeding or book › Academic research › peer-review

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AB - The COVID-19 pandemic led governments to rely on the versatility of social media to communicate with their citizens. This paper analyzes the Facebook communication of political leaders and health departments from 17 countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. We evaluate the citizen's response under the frameworks of media richness and user engagement. We note that governments and leaders communicate primarily through richer media (photos and videos), despite a negative correlation between media richness and user engagement. Plain-Text messages posted by country leaders attract the most engagement, while their COVID-19 communication tends to generate lower engagement. On the other hand, health departments' pages experienced a sharp increase in engagement around COVID-19 communication as citizens sought information during the pandemic. Finally, topical analysis shows that Discussions and Co-Use of COVID-19 with other topics can boost citizens' engagement. Our comparative analysis shows practical implications for social media users and social media designers. Our findings can help governments and organizations design effective social media communication during crises.

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Haq EU, Braud T, Lee LH, Mogavi RH, Zhang H, Hui P. Tips, Tidings, and Tech: Governmental Communication on Facebook During the COVID-19 Pandemic. In Hagen L, Solvak M, Hwang S, editors, Proceedings of the 23rd Annual International Conference on Digital Government Research: Intelligent Technologies, Governments and Citizens, DGO 2022. Association for Computing Machinery. 2022. p. 105-117. (ACM International Conference Proceeding Series). doi: 10.1145/3543434.3543642

Tips, Tidings, and Tech: Governmental Communication on Facebook During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Publication series

Conference

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

More information

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