The Power of the Blue Tick: Ugandans' experiences and engagement on Twitter at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

To raise awareness and communicate measures aimed at curbing the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Ugandan government used a combination of traditional and social media platforms. This included nationally televised presidential addresses on early coping efforts. We examine the impact of these communications by using public Twitter data to explore Ugandans' experiences, conversations, and engagement leading up to, during, and after these addresses. We found that tweets from verified accounts received more user engagement than tweets from non-verified accounts. We also used a Louvian clustering algorithm to identify the topics around which tweet clusters occurred. Some topics were unique to Uganda's COVID-19 response, such as lockdown and truck drivers. Thematic analyses within the five clusters uncovered sub-themes on conversation dynamics, and Twitter use during the pandemic. Overall, we use Uganda as a case example of using social media in a crisis (such as a pandemic) to provide insight into the African experience.