English abstract
This study aims to reveal and analyze the mechanism of managing government
institutions through the Instagram network to communicate the crisis of the
Corona Virus Covid_19 pandemics in the Sultanate of Oman during the year
2020. The study seeks to identify the general characteristics of the accounts of
these institutions under study on the Instagram network, the content of their
publications, and the methods and strategies used to manage the Corona
Covid_19 crises in 2020.
The study also seeks to identify the challenges faced by content creators on the
Instagram network; To meet the communication needs during the Corona
Covid-19 crisis in 2020. The researcher used the descriptive analytical approach
to achieve the objectives of the study, based on the content analysis tool and
unstructured interviews.
The purposive sample included nine government institutions to study their
accounts on the Instagram network. Government institutions that have more
than 10 thousand followers on the Instagram network were used in this study to
ensure the availability of maximum interaction on the account. Accordingly; the
study sample represented the accounts of the following government institutions:
The Ministry of Health, the Royal Oman Police, the Ministry of Labor, the
Ministry of Higher Education, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of
Heritage and Tourism, the Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs, the
Ministry of Information, and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth.
Findings of the study showed clear variation in publication rates about the crisis
in some institutions during the period of the study, as it increased in the months
of the beginning of the crisis and its spread in the Sultanate (March-April-May)
and declined in the following months. The results of the study also showed that
the news / informational function of the publications was largely represented in
the daily statistics of infection and deaths published by the Ministry of Health.
In addition to the efforts of the Supreme Committee in charge of examining the
mechanisms of dealing with developments resulting from the spread of the
Corona virus. The study concluded that the majority of publications included in
this study used the explanatory strategy and the strategy of taking responsibility
in the majority of publications, especially when urging to avoid gatherings, and
visiting crowded places as well as quarantine. The results also showed the
institutions' interest in creating content that suits the characteristics of the target
audience, as the audience was brought closer to the reality of the crisis through
video interviews with influencers on social networks, as well as a number of
patients infected with the Corona virus and doctors.
The study concluded that the most important challenges faced by those
responsible for managing the accounts of the institutions under study are the
rapid and successive updates of laws issued by the Supreme Committee charged
with examining the mechanism of dealing with the Corona crisis, and the lack
of clarity of some laws.
