Citizen digital participation in Peru and Ecuador during the government crisis management by COVID-19

Abstract

The response of the audiences/citizens in the social network Facebook of the Ministries of Health of Ecuador and Peru is analyzed in relation to the content published on the COVID-19 pandemic during the first wave of each country, in order to identify their role in decoding government discourse. With a qualitative approach, a case study is applied through the observation of eight categories and the analysis of metrics provided by the Fanpage Karma digital application. As main results, two apparently homogeneous realities stand out and characterized by discursive coherence and reading comprehension in the comments, a predominance of emotion over reason as a frame and an absent addition of information. However, relevant data can be found that point to two different societies regarding the possibilities of dialogue with their governments: one with greater acquiescence and interaction; the other, without large spaces for debate on digital participation.