Investigating social media utilization and challenges in the governmental sector for crisis events: The case of Saudi Arabia

Abstract

The use and utilization of social media applications, tools, and services enables advanced services in daily routines, activities, and work environments. Nowadays, disconnection from social media services is a disadvantage due to their increasing use and functionality. The use of social media applications and services has provided different methods and routines for communications that ranges from posting, reposting, commenting, interacting, and live communication that can reach a mass population with minimum time, effort, and expenses compared with traditional media systems and channels. The current benefits of using social media can assist in providing better services in terms of communication and guidance for civil protection services within governmental sectors, as reported by different research studies. The use of social media has been found to be critically important by governmental agencies in different situations for directing, educating, and engaging people during different events. This study investigates the use of social media services in Saudi Arabia in governmental sectors to outline the opportunities and challenges faced, given the challenging situations faced annually during the Hajj and Ramadan rituals, and sporadic flood crisis events. This research focuses on defining the current stand and challenges of using social media services for providing mass communication and civil engagement during hazardous and challenging events in Saudi Arabia. The results of this study will be used as a roadmap for future investigation in this regard.