Background and Purpose: A risk communication strategy was
one of the tools that the National Government used to manage the COVID-19
pandemic in the country. Twitter was part of the risk communication strategy as
it could provide accurate information to a large audience in real-time.
However, there are risks associated with such a strategy, including
misinformation and an overload of information for the Twitter user. The aim of
the study was to investigate how the National Government of South Africa used
Twitter in the risk communication strategy and what lessons can be learned to
respond to future pandemics more effectively and efficiently.
Methods: A structured literature review was used to collect 15 articles that
focused on risk management strategies during emergency times.
Results: The research found that the challenges associated with using Twitter
during Covid-19 as a risk management strategy included an infodemic,
misinformation, lack of authoritative spokesperson and lack of technology to
access the social media platform. Lessons learned from the efforts of the South
African Government to use Twitter in the risk communication strategy included
evaluation of information that is placed on Twitter through association of
international organisations that provide best practices and education of the
public on how to utilize social media and health information during a pandemic.
Conclusions: The recommendation of the research is that Twitter is beneficial
in a risk communication strategy, but the issues of misinformation and
information overload must be addressed to make it an efficient and effective
tool.
Author(s) Details:
Mila Ncoyini,
University of Fort Hare, South Africa.
Liezel Cilliers,
University
of Fort Hare, South Africa.
Please see the link here: https://stm.bookpi.org/MHEEDCBCPICBMD/article/view/13205
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