The Opportunities and Challenges of Social Media Use by Government in Crisis Management: A Case of Ministry of Health and Twitter Usage in Kenya during Covid-19

Abstract

Social media has become an essential tool for government communication during the Covid-19 pandemic. New links between the government and citizens are being formed, with each group relying on the other to combat the pandemic. Despite considerable research interest in the intersection of social media and government, little is known on how governments use social media to manage crisis like Covid-19. This exploratory study aimed to investigate how governments used social media in Covid-19 management, focusing on Kenya’s Ministry of Health and its Twitter usage. Qualitative data was collected through content analysis from the Ministry of health’s official Twitter account (@MOH_Kenya) from 30 th June 2020 to 30 th June 2021. Overall, 1345 tweets were retrieved and analyzed using the thematic analysis method. Six primary themes were identified, indicating that the Government of Kenya used social media to communicate: important public health messages, plans and measures, regular updates on the pandemic, humanitarian and community cohesion, and surveillance messages, while misinformation control was the most prevalent challenge. The government now has opportunities to promote public awareness of Covid-19, boost surveillance, improve public preparedness, manage government reputational effects, and increase accountability and transparency while fostering public confidence through social media communication. The study concludes that social media has been beneficial in government communication during the pandemic. While there are obvious benefits to using social media for government communication during Covid-19 when reaching a larger population is critical, the government must monitor social media users, and the information exchanged to ensure quality and reliability, avoid information overload, and misinforming the public. To increase public engagement, information penetration on Covid-19, and a more inclusive policy process, the government should acknowledge the constraints of its voice and pursue prospects to collaborate with more influential voices in the community.