Examining the Indonesian government’s social media use for disaster risk communication

ABSTRACT

Social media have become widely used platforms for risk communication. Nevertheless, as this paper identifies there are potential challenges associated with the use social media, i.e. trust and credibility, misinformation, and digital inequality. This study uses three case studies to analyze the Indonesian government’s messaging strategies on social media for disaster risk communication, while navigating these challenges. Thematic content analysis of Indonesian emergency units’ social media posts during disaster events and of in-depth interviews with the personnel of the government agencies reveal the problematic aspects of the unidirectional top-down pattern of social media disaster risk communication. The messages mainly convey information about situations related to the disasters and government activities in local communities during disasters. Government agencies did not see social media as an appropriate channel for local communities most likely to be impacted or that such communities are shaped by culturally embedded beliefs and who might have limited accesses to the technology. This study suggests that patterns of social media use for disaster risk communication can differ across cultures. The collectivist culture of Indonesian communities has led to the two-step flow of communication model that proposes embracing culture and social capital to build trust, credibility, and overcome digital inequalities.

KEYWORDS:

• Disaster risk communication
• social media
• government
• Indonesia

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This manuscript is funded by Universitas Atma Jaya Yogyakarta, Indonesia, under ‘the 2019 Percepatan Guru Besar Program’ and School of Communication, University of Technology Sydney, under ‘the 2019 Research Internationalization Collaboration Grant’.

Notes on contributors

Gregoria A. Yudarwati

Dr. Gregoria A. Yudarwati is a lecturer in the School of Communication at Universitas Atma Jaya Yogyakarta. Her research areas are in public relations, community engagement and sustainability communication.

Ignatius A. Putranto

Ignatius A. Putranto is a lecturer in the School of Communication at Universitas Atma Jaya Yogyakarta. His research areas are in advertising, creative industry and entrepreneurship.

Kate M. Delmo

Dr Kate M. Delmo is a lecturer in the School of Communication at the University of Technology Sydney. Her research areas are in crisis communication, social media in disaster risk communication, and climate technologies in disaster communication.