The Syrian refugee crisis: how local governments and NGOs manage their image via social media

• Published in: Disasters Vol. 43; no. 3; pp. 509 - 533
• Main Authors: del Mar Gálvez‐Rodríguez, María, Haro‐de‐Rosario, Arturo, del Carmen Caba‐Pérez, María
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.07.2019
• Subjects: Citizens; Communication; Communication theory; Comparative analysis; Crises; Digital media; Facebook; Government; interactions; Internet; Local government; Mass media; Mass media images; NGOs; Nongovernmental organizations; non‐profit sector; public sector; Reputations; response; Social media; Social networks; public sector; non-profit sector; Facebook; response; interactions
• DOI: 10.1111/disa.12351
• ISSN: 0361-3666

This study, based on situational crisis communication theory and set in the context of the Syrian refugee crisis, seeks first to conduct a comparative analysis of the management of online citizen engagement by local governments and non‐governmental organisations (NGOs). Second, it aims to examine the relationship between certain factors pertaining to the types of responses submitted by citizens via the social media of the aforementioned actors. The sample is composed of several Spanish local governments and NGOs belonging to Red de Municipios de Acogida de Refugiados (Local Government Network for Refugee Allocation). The main findings are that NGOs' online engagement with citizens is more than that of local governments. Notably, NGOs are much more active on their Facebook pages than are local governments. The two actors converge, though, in terms of disseminating instructive information and paying less attention to ‘basic crisis response options’. Moreover, the factors ‘content type’, ‘reputation’, and ‘woman’ affect the type of response messages sent by citizens.