Social Media During the First Wave of the Coronavirus Outbreak

In her latest work, Prof. Noa Aharony, together with Dr. Gal Yavetz from the Department of Information Sciences at Bar Ilan University, investigated how during the first wave of the Coronavirus outbreak the four main Israeli government ministries used Facebook to communicate and disseminate information to the public, as well as examining the engagement rates. The researchers found that the Ministry of Education published the highest number of posts regarding the Coronavirus, but the Ministry of Health’s posts yielded the highest engagement rates compared to the rest of the ministries. Posts published during leisure hours (weekends and evening hours) yielded higher rates of engagement and positive sentiment from readers. Posts containing information about restrictions had the highest rate of engagement and received the most responses, both positive and negative. To the researchers' surprise, text-based posts yielded higher engagement rates than visual content. Research findings can be deduced regarding methods of conveying messages to optimally mobilize the public's attention.

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