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

Patrick Cheong-Iao Pang, Qixin Cai, Wenjing Jiang and Kin Sun Chan
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Patrick Cheong-Iao Pang: Victoria University Business School, Victoria University, Melbourne 3000, Australia
Qixin Cai: Institute of Social Security, School of Public Administration and Policy, Renmin University of China, Beijing 100872, China
Wenjing Jiang: Department of Government and Public Administration, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Macau, Macao
Kin Sun Chan: Department of Government and Public Administration, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Macau, Macao

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 7, 1-19

Abstract: 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.

Keywords: government; social media; Facebook; content analysis; Macao; communication; engagement; COVID-19 (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 (2)

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