Ta hand om dig. /red, Krisinfo

Sammanfattning

We live in a crisis society where crises are a constant in our lives, furthermore people in a crisis are searching for information and understanding through social media, where misinformation and disinformation is spread. The aim of this study was to reach an increased understanding of what purpose Krisinformation.se had as a moderator in its own comment section on social media during the Covid-19 pandemic. The theoretical framework for this study is based on the Situational Crisis Communication Theory and crisis communication in relation to social media, as well as rhetoric and the Signal Theory. In order to fulfil the study's purpose from a hermeneutic point of view, netnograpfic observations of Krisinformation.se’s comment section on Facebook and Instagram was conducted. The analysis is based on an extraction of ten chosen social media posts´s comment sections, published on both Facebook and Instagram, where the hermeneutic circle has been the foundation of the method behind the analysis. The results indicate that Krisinformation.se makes use of moderation strategies such as professional moderators in their comment section to spread trustworthy information on social media, as well as gaining control over the comment section. The professional moderators do this by carrying a formal, pleasant and professional tone and additionally erases comments with offensive nature or aim to spread misinformation and disinformation. From this study differences in Krisinformation.se´s moderating between the beginning and the end of the pandemic have been identified and analysed. The greatest change can be found in the usage of greetings and signature of the comments. The results indicate that there are not any vast differences between Krisinformation.se´s moderation on Facebook and Instagram. However there are several differences in engagement on the two social media platforms, which is likely due to Krisinformation.se´s different usage of the social media platforms. Facebook is mainly used for distribution of news and important information. Instagram is mainly used for distribution of knowledge about emergency preparedness.