Contribution of Social Media in Ghana’s Covid-19 Risk and Crisis Communication Activities

Abstract

Today, the ubiquity of the COVID-19 is calling for better ways of communicating the crisis and risks associated with the virus. The apparently unlimited capabilities for social networking provided by social media renders it a viable medium for this kind of communication. The aim of this study is to examine the contribution of social media in the COVID-19 disease risk and crisis communication in Ghana. The objectives of the study were to identify the social media platforms used by the government of Ghana in risk and crisis communication; to identify the social media platforms used by citizens of Ghana in accessing information on COVID-19; to determine the significance of social media platforms in COVID-19 related risk and crisis communication, and to identify the challenges and opportunities for the use of social media in health communication. The data was collected from 200 social media users aged 18 to 34 years within the Greater-Accra Region of Ghana. Findings reveal that Ghanaians use the six major social media platforms adopted in this study, namely Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube in accessing information released by government on the various social media pages of its agencies. Facebook was found to be the most used social media platform by government agencies in COVID-19 risk and crisis communication, followed by Twitter, then Instagram and WhatsApp. The least used platform was LinkedIn. The findings also showed that social media was a significant medium for communicating COVID-19 risk and crisis, with about 89.5% of respondents using social media to obtain COVID-19 risk and crisis information.