The Uptake of Social Media as an Official Communication Tool by Regional Governments: the Case of Vihiga County Government, Kenya

Abstract

Technological development has introduced and increased the use of social media at the global stage. Several governments utilize it as a channel through which they actualize their communicative function. The lack of studies on social media adoption by some county governments necessitated a study to be caried out on the subject in Vihiga County. This study focused on evaluating the adoption level of social media a s communication channel in Vihiga County government, one of the 47 counties of Kenya. Purposive sampling was used and data was collected from 20 respondents: 4 interviews and 16 questionnaires respondents. It was analyzed using Microsoft Excel (version 2013) and presentations done in form of tables, figures and verbatim. The study achieved a 100% response rate. The study determined that 80% of information dissemination, 65% of feedback collection, 85% of public participation, 10% of event mobilization and 20% of informing and marketing county government programs were done through social media. The social media platforms used were Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, YouTube, WhatsApp and Telegram with 100, 90, 80, 80, 20 and 10% response rates, respectively. Challenges faced by the county government when using social media included impersonation and pseudo accounts, lack of internet access and poor network coverage, hacking of accounts, misinformation, difficulty in account verification, internet delays, delayed feedback, use of abusive language and language barrier. The study recommended further research to be conducted on the residents on the same subject and devising of effective methods by the county government to reduce on the challenges