Big Data Analysis of Policies on Disaster Communication: Mapping the issues of communication and public responses in the government social media

Abstract

Government communication contributed to the success of public policy implementation. Government social media is an instrument that can be utilized to measure public’s sentiment and support towards certain policies. This paper aims to present how the government’s policies on disaster are represented on the social media owned by the Badan Nasional Penanggulangan Bencana (BNPB) or Indonesian National Board for Disaster Management. This study analyzed both information and public comment posted in those social media between March and May 2020 to explore the state and citizen relations during the Covid-19 Pandemic in Indonesia. Using NVivo as a tool for text analysis methods, this study examines the theme pattern in government communication and public sentiment towards them. The study identifies content categories government’s communication, i.e. information, persuasion, and coercion. Concerning the public sentiment, this study finds high responses to behavioral contents, with negative (resistant) sentiments towards them. This study concludes that the government needs to treat the public as a collaborative partner, therefore the public policies on disaster need to be narrated comprehensively rather than partially intended to control public behavior.