Engagement of Government Social Media on Facebook during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Macao: Content Analysis (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Cheong-Iao Pang ◽  
Qixin Cai ◽  
Wenjing Jiang ◽  
Kin Sun Chan
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Recovery Period ◽  
Acute Stage ◽  
Chronic Stage ◽  
The Public ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
Entire Duration ◽  
Social Media Platforms

BACKGROUND Government social media is widely used for providing updates to and engaging with the public in the COVID-19 pandemic, and Facebook is one of the popular social media platforms used by governments. However, there is only a scant of research focusing on these two areas. As the global pandemic has been easing in some places, users also react differently on social media to the messages from governments, which prompts more research in the post-pandemic time. OBJECTIVE This study aims to understand how government social media is used and how its engagement changes in different stages throughout the pandemic. Macao is one of the jurisdictions in the world that has suppressed the transmissions of COVID-19. The case study of Macao can also provide insights for the recovery period after the pandemic. METHODS Posts from the Facebook pages owned by the Macao Government were analyzed. Data were grouped into the prodromal, acute and chronic stages using Fink’s crisis management model, and qualitative content analysis was used to classify data into categories. The average values of the engagement (i.e., the numbers of emotions, comments and shares) were compared. RESULTS 1,664 posts from January 1st, 2020 to October 31st, 2020 were analyzed. The engagement was relatively low at the beginning and then surged in the acute stage, with a decreasing trend in the chronic stage. Information about latest updates, press conferences, community resilience and appreciation could maintain their engagement in the entire duration. Posts for controlling rumors attracted positive engagement and a high number of shares. The focuses of the public changed throughout the pandemic. CONCLUSIONS Government social media should be used with different focuses in different stages of the pandemic, for example, increasing vigilance and awareness in the prodromal stage, disseminating updates and seeking feedback in the acute stage, and focusing on mental health support and recovery policies in the chronic stage. Additionally, government social media can be an effective tool for controlling rumors, providing updates and fostering community engagement in massive public health crises.

scholarly journals Degrees of Freedom: Exploring Agency, Narratives, and Technological Affordances in the #TakeAKnee Controversy

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 205630511982612 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith E. Rosenbaum
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Degrees Of Freedom ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Structuration Theory ◽  
The Social ◽  
American National Identity ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
Media Narratives ◽  
Technological Affordances

This study extends current research into social media platforms as counterpublic spaces by examining how the social media narratives produced by the #TakeAKnee controversy negotiate technological affordances and existing discourses surrounding American national identity. Giddens’ Structuration Theory is used to explore the nature of user agency on social media platforms and the extent to which this agency is constrained or enabled by the interplay between the systems and structures that guide social media use. Exploratory qualitative content analysis was used to analyze and compare tweets and Instagram posts using the #TakeAKnee hashtag shared in September 2017. Results showed that narratives are dominated by four themes, freedom, unity, equality and justice, and respect and honor. Users actively employ technological affordances to create highly personalized meanings, affirming that agency operates at the intersection of reflexivity and self-efficacy.

scholarly journals The battle to end fake news: A qualitative content analysis of Facebook announcements on how it combats disinformation

2019 ◽  
Vol 82 (1) ◽  
pp. 60-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
Petros Iosifidis ◽  
Nicholas Nicoli
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Culture Media ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Digital Culture ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Digital Democracy ◽  
Descriptive Account ◽  
The World ◽  
Social Media Platforms

The recent spread of online disinformation has been profound and has played a central role in the growth of populist sentiments around the world. Facilitating its progression has been politically and economically motivated culprits who have ostensibly taken advantage of the digital freedoms available to them. At the heart of these freedoms lie social media organisations that only a few years earlier techno-optimists were identifying as catalysts of an enhanced digital democracy. In order to curtail the erosion of information, policy reform will no doubt be essential. The UK's Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Disinformation and ‘fake news’ Report and Cairncross Review, and the European Commission's Report on Disinformation are three recent examples seeking to investigate how precisely such reform policy might be implemented. Just as important is how social media organisations take on more responsibility and apply self-regulating mechanisms that stifle disinformation across their platforms (something the aforementioned reports identify). Doing so will go a long way in restoring legitimacy in these significant institutions. Facebook (which includes Instagram and Whatsapp), is the largest social media organisation in the world and must primarily bear the burden of this responsibility. The purpose of this article is to offer a descriptive account of Facebook's public announcements regarding how it tackles disinformation and fake news. Based on a qualitative content analysis covering the period November 16th 2016–March 4th 2019, this article will set out some groundwork on how to hold social media platforms more accountable for how they handle disinformation.

scholarly journals Sosiaalisen median kommenttien analyysi multimodaalisesta näkökulmasta digitaalisen journalismin ja poliittisen viestinnän tutkimuksessa

2021 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Margareta Salonen ◽  
Elisa Kannasto ◽  
Laura Paatelainen
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Political Communication ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Individual Mode ◽  
Digital Journalism ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
The One

Societal discussions flow on social media platforms that are studied by researchers in multiple ways and through various kinds of data sets that are extracted from them. In the studies of these discussions, multimodality unravels the semiotic modes that are communication resources through which meanings are socially and culturally created and expressed. In addition, the viewpoint of affordances can be used for viewing the functions of social media platforms and their discussions. Furthermore, this review was conducted to better understand how social media comments are researched from the perspective of multimodality in the context of digital journalism and political communication. A systematic literature review and qualitative content analysis were used as methods. The review discovered that the studies under review were not that high in multimodality and that text as an individual mode was the most common one. Furthermore, Twitter was the most researched platform and the one where the use of modes was more thoroughly explained.

The state of social media engagement in Saudi universities

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 267-303 ◽  
Author(s):  
Norah Khalid Alsufyan ◽  
Monira Aloud
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Public Universities ◽  
Private Universities ◽  
The Other ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
Social Media Engagement ◽  
Social Media Platforms

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the way that Saudi universities are engaging their audience via social media platforms by means of the five meaningful themes: visibility, branding, authenticity, commitment, and engagement. The study will answer the questions: how do Saudi universities exploit social media platforms to engage their target audience? What are the recommendations for Saudi universities toward maximizing the value of social media engagement? Design/methodology/approach A content analysis approach was used to study all Saudi universities (26 public, 11 private). Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn and Twitter were the anticipated social media platforms in this study. Findings The results showed that Twitter is the most frequently used platform to communicate with audiences. While visibility in the anticipated social media platforms was high, the engagement was lacking. On the other hand, authenticity and branding in the anticipated social media platforms were medium, while commitment was low except on Twitter. In general, the private universities exceed the public universities in terms of visibility, branding, authenticity, commitment and engagement in the anticipated social media platforms, which indicates their attention on gaining their audience’s satisfaction, a dynamic of trust which will lead to maintaining current relationships or building new ones. Originality/value Since there are few studies in the field regarding social media platforms usage by Saudi universities, this study aims to understand how Saudi universities are utilizing social media platforms to engage their audiences and propose recommendations for how Saudi universities can build value from social media platforms.

Framing the Global Youth Climate Movement: A Qualitative Content Analysis of Greta Thunberg’s Moral, Hopeful, and Motivational Framing on Instagram

2021 ◽  
pp. 194016122110556
Author(s):  
Amanda L. Molder ◽  
Alexandra Lakind ◽  
Zoe E. Clemmons ◽  
Kaiping Chen
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Communication Strategy ◽  
Future Generations ◽  
First Year ◽  
Unique Case ◽  
Emotional Appeal ◽  
Social Media Platforms

Climate change is a critical global problem that requires immediate action to mitigate its effects. In recent years, youth climate activists have mobilized worldwide protests to demand action, using social media platforms to communicate and broadcast their message. This study examines Greta Thunberg's rise to global prominence through an analysis of her first year and a half of Instagram posts from June 2018 to January 2020, including visual and textual elements. First, we explore how climate change is communicated on social media by youth activists, and then examine these concepts through the unique case of Thunberg’s Instagram. Then, through qualitative content analysis, this study elucidates her communication strategy by applying the concept of framing to unpack how she frames climate change as a moral and ethical issue, uses an emotional appeal of hope, and visually frames motivational collective action to mobilize her audience. Finally, we discuss the implications of our findings to explore the complexities of communicating climate change through social media and how Thunberg's activism on Instagram may provide an example for future generations.

Manually Profiling Egos and Entities across Social Media Platforms

2017 ◽  
pp. 352-405
Author(s):  
Shalin Hai-Jew
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Network Analysis ◽  
Analytical Techniques ◽  
Software Tools ◽  
Text Summarization ◽  
The Public ◽  
Social Media Platforms

Social media accounts on various social media platforms represent the public-facing Web presences of egos (individuals) and entities (groups). On the surface, these may be understood based on their profiles, their shared contents and postings, and their interactions with other user accounts online. A number of software tools and analytical techniques enable further analyses of these accounts through network analysis, content analysis, machine-based text summarization, and other approaches. This chapter describes some of the capabilities of “manual” or semi-automated (vs. fully automated) remote profiling of social media accounts for insights that would not generally be attainable by other means.

Populism, Its Prevalence, and Its Negative Influence on Democratic Institutions

2022 ◽  
pp. 153-170
Author(s):  
Darren G. Lilleker ◽  
Márton Bene ◽  
Delia Cristina Balaban ◽  
Vicente Fenoll ◽  
Simon Kruschinski
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Social Policy ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
Negative Influence ◽  
User Engagement ◽  
Ordinary People ◽  
Parliamentary Elections ◽  
The Public ◽  
Social Media Platforms

Populism is presented as a severe challenge to democracies as it delegitimises the institutions and processes on which democratic society is built. The infectious nature of populism within a system drives a shift in the public mood. The authors investigate this phenomenon through a content analysis of party posts on Facebook during the 2019 European parliamentary elections across 12 countries. They find almost a quarter of posts contain some form of populism, with anti-elitism the most common trope. Populist appeals are most likely to accompany critiques of labour and social policy, labelling elites or minority groups as causing inequalities which disadvantage the ordinary people. Both forms of populism enjoy high levels of user engagement suggesting they gain higher levels of reach within social media platforms. As support for populism rose in the wake of the economic and migrant crises, the authors suggest post-pandemic this increase is likely to continue.

scholarly journals Penyalahgunaan Media Sosial Sebagai Alat Propaganda

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-76
Author(s):  
Rety Palupi
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Hate Speech ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Public ◽  
Political World ◽  
Digital Era ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Government

Changes in the communication of information continue to occur along with the advancement of technology in the digital era. Nowadays everyone can work as a journalist even though he or she has never learned the basics of journalism. The public also frequently receive information or news that raise the eyebrows — ranging from disaster threats to information about the political world. The finding of this research is that often information that circulates in the hands of Warganet is a hoax and even hate speech, despite the government efforts to reduce the spread of hoax and hate speech. With this paper, the author aims at disclosing the propaganda elements in the hoax and hate speech in the social media as in the digital era the social media is the most vulnerable in spreading of hoax news and hate speech. By utilising qualitative content analysis, the author discusses five hoax news and hate speeches which are dissected using nine propaganda practices. The conclusion obtained by the author is that the hoax news and hate speech comprise of elements of exaggeration, rhetoric, recognition and influence on a variety of parties, as well as prejudices supplemented by emotions. 

scholarly journals Engagement of Government Social Media on Facebook during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Macao

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (7) ◽  
pp. 3508
Author(s):  
Patrick Cheong-Iao Pang ◽  
Qixin Cai ◽  
Wenjing Jiang ◽  
Kin Sun Chan
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Acute Stage ◽  
Chronic Stage ◽  
The Public ◽  
Health Measures ◽  
Other Information ◽  
Mental Health Support ◽  
Health Support ◽  
Facebook Pages

Government social media is widely used for providing updates to and engaging with the public in the COVID-19 pandemic. While Facebook is one of the popular social media used by governments, there is only a scant of research on this platform. This paper aims to understand how government social media should be used and how its engagement changes in prodromal, acute and chronic stages of the pandemic. We collected 1664 posts and 10,805 comments from the Facebook pages of the Macao government from 1 January to 31 October 2020. Using word frequency and content analysis, the results suggest that the engagement was relatively low at the beginning and then surged in the acute stage, with a decreasing trend in the chronic stage. Information about public health measures maintained their engagement in all stages, whereas the engagement of other information was dropping over time. Government social media can be used for increasing vigilance and awareness in the prodromal stage; disseminating information and increasing transparency in the acute stage; and focusing on mental health support and recovery policies in the chronic stage. Additionally, it can be a tool for controlling rumors, providing regular updates and fostering community cohesion in public health crises.

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