Regional Head Communication Patterns on Social Media in Handling the Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract

In crisis situations such as the Covid-19 pandemic, the government and politicians continue to strive to maintain direct communication with the public. Social media is one of the effective communication channels in the Covid-19 pandemic time. This study seeks to see the influence of regional head’s communication model on social media in handling the Covid-19 Pandemic. In addition, this research is a qualitative research using literature study and social media analysis. In this study, the authors used the NVivo 12 Plus software as an analysis tool. In addition, this article will focus on four regional heads in Indonesia; they are the Governor of DKI Jakarta, the Governor of Central Java, the Governor of East Java, and the Governor of West Java. The result of the research shows that the accounts of regional heads still tend to be in the first spectrum, which is informing the public. Accounts belonging to Anies Baswedan and Khofifah Indar still dominate the spectrum of information. However, the accounts belonging to Ganjar Pranowo and Ridwan Kamil have better percentage on the other spectrum. The communication model used on social media by regional heads tends to be one-way communication, but Ridwan Kamil’s account also uses two-way and deliberative communication. This has affected the handling of Covid-19 in West Java which is slowly subsiding. In addition, the communication that Ridwan Kamil built on social media has an effect on the handling of Covid-19 in West Java, considering that social media is one of the most ideal communication channels during the Covid-19 pandemic. This means that the use of a two-way and deliberative communication model as well as intense communication by regional heads on social media will affect the handling of Covid-19, because it allows regional heads to attract participation and absorb the aspirations of the community through social media.