The Ph.D. school Communication, Public Relations and Advertising is proudly announcing the defense of a new thesis authored Friday, February the 5th 2021, by Francis Dorin Spoaller from the Faculty of Political, Administrative and Communication Science entitled: Strategic communication through social media platforms. Case study: The communication of Romanian state institutions during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown.
The main objectives of the thesis are: 1) to identify the features of strategic communication in crisis settings, a type of communication articulated in cyberspace, chiefly social media platforms, and 2) to analyze the efficiency of strategic communication in crisis settings. The methodological design of this research uses methodological triangulation via mixing content analysis with sociological inquiry, through the opinion survey technique. content analysis Facebook posts (N=1295) throughout the state of emergency period, published by the Romanian Presidency, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Health, and the Strategic Communication Group were analyzed. In addition, in line with Agenda Setting Theory specific methodological approach an online survey was applied amongst early-stage adults (N=417), aged between 18 and 24 years old, during May 15-25, 2020.
Findings suggest that even if the potential of engagement of these networks has not been used, because with no exception, the state institutions preferred a top-down approach, their presence on this virtual setting is crucial, especially for young people who draw their information heavily from here, instead of traditional media. During the lockdown, amid movement restrictions, the time spent online by this audience has increased. Thus, the odds to see this information were high, and from the perspective of an effective strategic communication, the channel was properly selected.