E-Governance for Crisis Communication: A Study of Environmental Disaster in Pakistan

Abstract

This study explores the state of social media as an e-governance platform which is currently in preliminary stage in crisis communication during three major climate disasters in Pakistan. The researchers aim to scrutinize the proactive or reactive approach of social media handles belonging to Disaster Management Authorities (DMA’s) of Pakistan during the natural calamities of 2022: During Murree Snowstorm, Karachi Monsoon Rainfall, and Floods. This study targets various authorities, namely the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and the Provincial Disaster Management Authorities of Punjab, Sindh, KPK, and Baluchistan. Using quantitative content analysis techniques, the Social Mediated Crises Communication Model provided theoretical implications to determine which authority gathered more feedback likes, comments, and shares/retweets. The data is purposively sampled from the Twitter and Facebook handles of the National Disaster Management Authority and Provincial Disaster Management Authorities beginning from 1 January 2022 till 31 December 2022. The descriptive analysis on SPSS indicated that, most of the times, disaster management authorities adopted a reactive approach, with Twitter being a more active platform than Facebook. Additionally, contrary to other DMA’s, the Punjab Disaster Management Authority received more feedback on their social media platforms.