Keeping Citizens Informed and Engaged During the COVID-19 Pandemic Using #YoMeInformoPMA: A Case from Latin America

Area of Science:

• Public Health Communication
• Social Media Analysis
• Health Crisis Management

Background:

• Social media platforms are vital for information dissemination and public health agency communication, particularly during health crises.
• Effective public health messaging requires strategic educational, communicative, and interactive practices to build public trust.
• Research on social media's role in informing and engaging the public in Latin America during the COVID-19 pandemic is limited.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze communication strategies, themes, multimedia formats, key actors, and patterns within a Latin American health community hashtag during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• To investigate the use of the #YoMeInformoPMA hashtag by Panama's Ministry of Public Health.
• To identify effective social media engagement practices for public health agencies.

Main Methods:

• Quantitative content analysis of 2,500 tweets from April to August 2020.
• Social network analysis to map communication patterns and key actors.
• Thematic analysis to identify prevalent strategies and message themes.

Main Results:

• The #YoMeInformoPMA hashtag was primarily utilized with an interactive communication strategy.
• This interactive approach focused on promoting casual conversations, advice exchange, and problem-solving among users.
• Evidence of a deliberate communication strategy by specific actors within the network was identified.

Conclusions:

• Social media platforms facilitate meaningful engagement between the public and health agencies.
• Interactive communication strategies are effective in fostering dialogue and addressing public concerns during health crises.
• Findings offer practical recommendations for social media preparedness in future public health emergencies.