Compliance and Culture: Bhutanese Government Usage of Social Media in the Fight Against COVID-19

Evan Parker () and Alexander Del Greco ()

No 01/2021, The CoronaNet Researchers Working Paper Series from CoronaNet Research Project

Abstract: With every state around the world grappling with the devastating effects of COVID-19, one small success story has been the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, whose rapid shutdown of the country and strong citizen compliance limited confirmed cases to under 1,000 as of April 1st, 2021. Bhutan has, for a relatively technologically uninclined country, ran a comprehensive and engaged social media campaign to ensure compliance with its myriad COVID-19 safety measures. In this paper, we seek to illuminate how the Bhutanese state’s social media campaign has fostered compliance by utilizing industry best practices in a culturally specific way. We will begin with a discussion of the unique aspects of Bhutanese geography, politics, and culture, followed by a brief overview of the existing literature on COVID-19 measure compliance. We will then review the literature on social media best practices, and describe how they have, or have not, been put into practice by the Bhutanese state. Finally, we will conclude with suggestions for further inquiry.

Keywords: social media; compliance; coronavirus; Bhutan; Facebook (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 9 pages
Date: 2021-12, Revised 2022-06
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