A few days ago my older sister, who has four kids, messaged
me asking about the new MR vaccine policy issued by the government - a WhatsApp
voice message made the rounds, as they usually do, in Jordanian society,
warning about the dangers of this mandatory vaccine and urging parents not to
allow their kids to get vaccinated. A few days before that I was watching this
theory grow and evolve on different social media platforms, specifically, on
‘Mommy groups’. I waited for a government
reaction, an urgent response aimed to capture citizen attention, connect with
the people, communicate the vaccine policy and of course rebut the
misinformation. But as usual the government only released their usual lengthy
statements filled with bureaucratic words - and its communication failure was
evident.
اضافة اعلان
Misinformation moves fast, true, but authentic communication
is possible, even with the speed of social media and fake news. We have a
massive amount of publicly available data that can help predict such a public
reaction and would have helped the government strategize and prepare for the
flood of misinformation and discontent that are happening right now.
This is one case, and maybe it is one that doesn’t affect
you directly. But there are many more online panics - whether created by lack
of information or sparked by those spreading false information. Eventually, it
affects you and endangers our nation.
Three Things You Should Know
The rise of social media and the decline of our attention
span
Multiple books and studies have shown how the rise of social
media has affected attention span. In 2013 Microsoft research stated the human
attention span dropped from 12 to 8 seconds (technically less than a
goldfish’s). We are always scrolling, always receiving notifications, pop up
chat windows, voice notes, ads. So much data is flying at us, our brains cannot
keep up. Yet the vast majority of Jordanians use smartphones, use social media
platforms, and over 70 percent of our youth rely on social media to get news.
(Jordanians over 56 still rely on TV). So what wins in this flood of online
data? Studies have
shown that emotionally grabbing content is more
likely to grab our attention and go viral.
In this case what's more emotional than the well-being of our children?
What could cause more panic? COVID and the global vaccine debacle proved how
easily misinformation can spread, how it can move whole populations, and how
trust in government was essential to a population’s acceptance of taking
vaccines.
The problem is very obvious and we all are aware of it. The
question is, how is our government responding?
How are they more resilient against online fake news, more adaptable,
and more strategic in reaching the population with accurate and transparent information?
Strategize, don't advertise
Sometimes government communication is more like advertising,
showing off a shiny accomplishment, rather than conveying information or
interacting with citizens. News about meetings, a minister does a long
interview on TV, an opening of a new office, a new initiative, a new campaign,
a new listening tour by lecturing MPs, new legislation. But citizens don’t
engage with this. They don’t have much to comment on and they don’t see how it
affects their daily lives. At best, this is bland content, filler for news
sites. At worst, it creates resentment among citizens who see movement but no
forward motion, money is spent but without results they can see.
Strategic communications is not about pushing out positive
news constantly, it is about gathering a baseline to actually understand
citizen perception, see their vulnerabilities, identify the social fissures,
and then respond with a framed argument. By framed argument I mean just like a
window frame you set the borders of the discussion so that everything is seen
through that ‘frame’. Once we know the target audience and we set our frame,
let the discussion begin. It doesn’t take a fancy PR firm, it takes a lot of
effort at the beginning and then it just takes discipline to implement.
How others have kept upGovernments across the world have adapted and evolved their
comms strategy to better communicate their policies and get the population on
board. Some failed and many succeeded. Jordan should not be an exception but in
this case it is. But we deserve to be among the successes and we can be. Jordan
is a country which survives on community connection, neighborhood chats, and
word of mouth. We gossip about what's happening in the country at weddings,
funerals, markets, and work, in taxis, and over coffee. WhatsApp and Facebook
just became virtual versions of those events. We started putting our
‘over-coffee opinions’ online for the public to see - and sometimes with bad
results. That’s ok. Not everyone needs to be an expert in all areas, and can
still express an opinion. But the government can still provide correct
information, answer citizen discontent, give context to decisions, and
otherwise, well, talk with the people.
Back to the vaccine issue - the government made little to no
effort to communicate strategically and properly with the nation. An official
letter was sent out to schools, a public official went on a talk show (for that
56+ demographic) and so it goes. Public interaction has shifted dramatically -
first with Facebook, then Twitter with short-burst opinions, then images with
Instagram, then short videos with Snapchat and TikTok. Governments around the
world are developing solutions to keep up. Why shouldn’t we? One particularly
successful example of how governments globally have kept up is with using
storytelling in communicating policies.
Tips from a former smoker ,
Drive sober of get pulled over ,
click, clack, front and back! These are all great examples
of how governments adopted storytelling to communicate policies and promote
awareness by resonating with people on an emotional level. Go online, the
country is majority youth and they are online, not watching TV morning shows.
Make messages brief, knowing the short attention span of the audience, and know
that citizens want a better life and want to talk about it.
My take
The speed in which information is disseminated and processed
has changed many aspects of our lives. Not only do citizens have less attention
span, more emotional decision-making, and much more distraction, we also have
to deal with bots, echo chambers, misinformation… All of these challenges are
faced by all states, big and small, across the globe. What makes the difference
in successful communications is accurate information and how to use it to
create a strategy.
I am certain that our government has no communications
strategy. Our government advertises and doesn't strategize. Time and again, one
crisis after another, the government has frozen still and produced old tools
like long wandering speeches, official bureaucratic letters and or just making
it illegal to do the new whatever.
We think of communications like PR - a Western politician
apologizing for a recent mistake, a celebrity going to rehab, a poor lowly
staff person trying to justify their boss’ recent gaffe. But a communication
strategy is security, it is stability. An informed population is a secure
population - an uninformed population is one at risk. An uninformed populace is
easy prey for any delectable gossip or purposeful chaos. Communications is not
having a Twitter account ( X? The platform formerly known as Twitter?) or
giving an interview on TV. It is actually communicating - which is a two way
process - where you listen to the other side and based on their rhetoric you
craft your answers which fit under your strategy.
We need to understand our people’s patterns of engagement.
No, this doesn't mean hopping on any platform to check the number of likes. It
means detailed studies (focus groups and polling) to understand how Jordanians
engage, what triggers them, and why they engage with misinformation. It means
in-depth interviews with Jordanians about how they share news on WhatsApp. Then
we can look at engagement on Facebook and Instagram. Studies have shown that internationally,
information sharing is a democratic practice - people generally believe what
they post (even if it is false) and want the right to talk about it. Bots exist
and malign campaigns exist, but a majority of the time it is real people
sharing false information that they believe is true.
So, what is the case for Jordan? Government can’t keep
ignoring this ever-evolving communication
and engagement style. The government’s outreach also needs to
evolve. It needs to respond using the
tools and processes the people use (use images and video, be brief, be online,
use message discipline, be emotional). The more data we have about how citizens
get information, process it, share it, and how they determine what to believe,
the better a strategy can be created. The government can control the frame of
communication to ensure accurate information, not always on the defensive,
acting surprised why citizens have questions or concerns.
A managed crisis is much better than an unmanaged one. Open
communication with citizens rebuilds trust in institutions. In the face of
declining trust in institutions, Jordan does not want to be vulnerable when
addressing a crisis. Finally, there’s a lot of big things happening in Jordan
that will require strategic communication and public awareness. The political
modernizations are changing the shape of parliament, lowering the age of
candidacy, reviving political parties and focused on involving more Jordanians
in the political process. There is an economic revitalization plan. There is a
plan to reform the public sector. There are also some frightening items that
need strategic communication, like worsening water scarcity.
The first step is showing up (armed with data!). The next
step is speaking in a way so others will pay attention to you and not just keep scrolling by and finally
lead do not follow the narrative.
Read more Opinion and Analysis
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