*Norizzati Azudin, Rosninawati Hussin & Suria Hani A. Rahman

Abstract:

This study examines the use of Twitter as a communication tool by the government of Saudi Arabia in managing the COVID-19 pandemic. To identify the content used by Twitter, this study employed content analysis along with the application of the user and gratifications theory. For this qualitative research, data were collected for one month, from March 1 to March 31, 2020, when COVID-19 first hit the country. The data collected focused exclusively on the Saudi Ministry of Health (MOH), as it is the most important, prominent, and active government agency addressing this crisis through social media. The results show that the Saudi government used Twitter not only to convey information, but also to highlight its importance and raise public awareness. The results also demonstrate that the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Health tweeted between six (6) and nine (9) times per day to disseminate information and knowledge about COVID-19.

Keywords: Social media, Twitter, crisis communication, COVID-19, Saudi Arabia