Tweets by the health authority in Chile at the dawn of the coronavirus crisis

Abstract

Introduction: In a health crisis social media are key channels between public organizations and citizens. This work examines the communication of the Chilean Ministry of Health on Twitter during the previous and initial weeks of the Coronavirus crisis in the country. Goals: To determine whether the Ministry used Twitter as a direct communication channel with citizens. Methods: Tweets issued by the Ministry’s official account between February 11 and April 6, 2020 were retrieved. Each post was classified by type (tweet, retweet, etc.); according to whether it addressed content related to the Coronavirus and whether the message was addressed to the general public or to the press. Results: The tweets issued by the account and the proportion of these referring to the pandemic increased as the weeks progressed. While in the pre-crisis weeks messages linked to the mass media predominated, in the weeks that followed posts directed at citizens became relevant. Conclusion: The communication strategy on Twitter changed over the course of the analyzed eight weeks, probably due to the extension of the emergency’ scope and changes related to the organizational responsibility in the crisis.