This article is written by Naufal Virindra, an Indonesian civil servant working on the Indonesian Civil Service Commission (KASN RI). This article represents personal ideas and not the institution.
- The problem: False information, irresponsible news and baseless blame towards a government can spread fast and become viral through social media.
- Why it matters: A government must examine its service to ensure that action can stem social problems before they go viral and counter false news.
- The solution: A government must understand the social media environment and strengthen its strategy to contain problems.
A double-edged sword?
Social media is one of the internet platforms where people can share their thoughts, hobbies, lifestyle, memories, criticism, blame, or even false information. The most popular and commonly used social media platforms globally are Facebook, Twitter (currently called X), Instagram, TikTok and Threads. People and institutions can benefit from social media to sell products and services, improve personal or institutional reputation, expand networking, or become influencers to attract people's interest in certain things. When a bunch of people are into something particular on social media, it can become a viral phenomenon. The growth of people’s interest can become immense, like a snowball effect: when something is viral, it influences others with the same interests to make it more viral. Although social media offers many benefits, it can be a double-edged sword. Social media can also harm others by spreading lies, broken promises and false information if people wrongfully use it. In this article, I explore three examples of research which demonstrate viral phenomena in social media, then suggest what governments (as social media stakeholders) can do after something goes viral, and what can be done to prevent problems occurring in the first place.
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Statistics
The International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) recently published statistics on people’s behaviour on Facebook, Instagram and X (formerly Twitter).
- 2.23 billion people log in every month and 66% of users log in daily.
- Five Facebook profiles are created every second.
- It is the third most-visited website after Google and YouTube.
- 62% of people ages 65 and above are Facebook users.
- People look five times longer at video posts than static posts.
- 1 billion users log in every month.
- 38% of users access the platform multiple times a day.
- 71% of users are below the age of 35.
- 35% of online adults use the platform.
- People like 4.2 billion posts each day.
- 500 million people use ‘stories’ every day.
- Time spent watching videos increased 80% from 2016 to 2017.
- 500 million posts are sent each day.
- 71% of users read news.
- People are 31% more likely to remember what they see compared to general online browsing.
- The half-life of a post is 24 minutes, it then starts a slow decline in traction and interaction.
- Post engagement peaks at 3pm on weekdays, and posts with a GIF (Graphic Interchange Format) get 55% more engagement.
Studies of social media
Research conducted by The University of Birmingham in 2022 analysed government social media activities on Twitter (now ‘X’) when announcing policies, broadcasting activities and as a channel for interacting with the public. The study found that people perceived personal attacks as “more negative” than blame focused on an outcome, regardless of the blame reason. However, if the censure focused on an outcome based on poor integrity (such as lies and broken promises), then people perceived this as “more negative” than an outcome based on low capacity (failure of a plan). The research also showed that people are more likely to re-post blaming messages focused on negative outcomes based on poor integrity (lies and broken promises). Meanwhile, they are less likely to re-post personal attacks because people think re-posting personal attacks may harm their personal reputation.
Social media operation in the public sector is not an additional job, but primary work – social media channels should be managed by skilled communication specialists.
In a second study, MIT researchers in 2018 found that false information spreads faster on Twitter (currently ‘X’) than real news. It happens not because of the work of bots, but because of a large number of users re-posting inaccurate news. The study showed that false information is 70% more likely to be re-posted than fact. Factual information also takes six times longer to reach 1,500 people than it does for false information to reach the same number. The researchers examined 126,000 news stories spreading on Twitter between 2006 and 2017, and found they had been tweeted over 4.5 million times by roughly three million people. The researchers suggested that false information spreads quicker because people “like new things” and “false information is more novel, and people are more likely to share novel information”.
A case study on TikTok
A case study from Australia revealed that TikTok shared illegal information about tax fraud. The video described how to claim tax refunds from the Australian government illegally. Based on the Bloomberg Tax article in 2023, there were two parties responsible for this event. The first was influencers who spread false information, and the second was the Australian Tax Office (ATO) for its lack of oversight.
These three examples demonstrate why governments must be extra careful on social media platforms because false information can spread effortlessly and faster than factual information. It can be done with ease by people simply re-posting false information. People also think negatively when authority lies or makes irresponsible promises and will re-post a social media posting. This action can potentially go viral and harm a government institution's reputation.
How governments can embrace social media and its dynamics
Journalists are everywhere to record every government action, speech, interview and conversation. They can publish through the mass media, websites, and social media. Government spokespeople must therefore be extra careful when describing or explaining their work to the public. They should not lie nor share irresponsible promises to the public to gain trust. They must find the best way to wrap the original message with an approach that is not confusing or biased and is easy to understand. If a government fails to provide good services, it should reveal the truth and embrace the response. It is better to admit the truth and fix the problem than lie about pseudo-performance since people are now more critical and technologically savvy to uncover the truth. A government should also strengthen its preventive action plan to anticipate unsolved problems that go viral on social media. They must find and solve public issues in advance before they get blown up by people on social media.
Equally, false information about policies and services on social media can also harm a government's reputation. Therefore, governments must recognise that social media operation in the public sector is not an additional job, but primary work – social media channels should be managed by skilled communication specialists. Governments must consider people's perspectives about how the public sector runs. If false information spreads wildly on social media, and a government is unaware of it, then it will receive damage to its reputation. Therefore, a government must always be ready to monitor social media traffic and control the crowd by clarifying false information with factual and reliable information as soon as possible. If people re-post false information that has been clarified by the government, it is considered a personal attack on the government. As noted earlier in the article, people are less likely to re-post personal attack information and more likely to re-post blaming messages focused on negative outcomes based on poor integrity (lies and broken promises). Therefore, we can conclude that people are less likely to attack the government on social media by sharing false information if they know the truth. Instead, they will criticise its lack of performance. This research will be useful in helping to develop a robust social media strategy.
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