Examining Social Media Crisis Communication during Early COVID-19 from Public Health and News Media for Quality, Content, and Corresponding Public Sentiment

Melissa MacKay, Taylor Colangeli, Daniel Gillis, Jennifer McWhirter and Andrew Papadopoulos
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Melissa MacKay: Department of Population Medicine, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G2W1, Canada
Taylor Colangeli: Department of Population Medicine, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G2W1, Canada
Daniel Gillis: School of Computer Science, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G2W1, Canada
Jennifer McWhirter: Department of Population Medicine, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G2W1, Canada
Andrew Papadopoulos: Department of Population Medicine, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G2W1, Canada

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 15, 1-14

Abstract: Rising COVID-19 cases in Canada in early 2021, coupled with pervasive mis- and disinformation, demonstrate the critical relationship between effective crisis communication, trust, and risk protective measure adherence by the public. Trust in crisis communication is affected by the communication’s characteristics including transparency, timeliness, empathy, and clarity, as well as the source and communication channels used. Crisis communication occurs in a rhetorical arena where various actors, including public health, news media, and the public, are co-producing and responding to messages. Rhetorical arenas must be monitored to assess the acceptance of messaging. The quality and content of Canadian public health and news media crisis communication on Facebook were evaluated to understand the use of key guiding principles of effective crisis communication, the focus of the communication, and subsequent public emotional response to included posts. Four hundred and thirty-eight posts and 26,774 anonymized comments were collected and analyzed. Overall, the guiding principles for effective crisis communication were inconsistently applied and combined. A limited combination of guiding principles, especially those that demonstrate trustworthiness, was likely driving the negative sentiment uncovered in the comments. Public health and news media should use the guiding principles consistently to increase positive sentiment and build trust among followers.

Keywords: crisis communication; risk communication; social media; Facebook; COVID-19; public health; pandemic; digital communication; sentiment analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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