Government's Covid messaging 'lacked clarity' and was 'difficult to understand'
Government messaging on social media during the Covid-19 pandemic lacked clarity, was ambiguous and was difficult to understand by people, according to new research.
Studies by Birmingham City University showed the language used by officials on Twitter fell short of the clear, concise and direct messages needed throughout the pandemic.
The study archived and analysed 84 million tweets relating to the virus to assess how information was shared, delivered and discussed during the first 16 months of the virus.
And findings from the research – collated into a specially-available database – form part of a newly-published report from the House of Commons Committee of Public Accounts.
Dr Tatiana Tkacukova, senior lecturer in English Language at Birmingham City University, was part of the project team working to produce the research and create the database.
She said: "The report illustrates that language is important for creating a coherent approach for social media use by Government bodies. Our work also helps to visualise the degree of transparency in government communication and track public trust in government policies."
Written evidence submitted to the committee found that messaging from the Government and public health bodies lacked clarity about who the messages were directed to, used long sentences – with complex vocabulary, grammar and syntax – which made it difficult to understand.
And they used language which was ambiguous, used terminology likely to elicit negative reactions, and used terms which could have excluded some recipients of messages – i.e. using the term "house" rather than "home".
The project, known as TRAC:COVID, was funded by £77k from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) with an additional £19k of funding provided by Birmingham City University.
The analysis also showed that throughout the pandemic there was widespread support for the key measures used to contain the Covid-19 outbreak, including the nationwide periods of lockdown.
And a considerable number of tweets supported the introduction of even stronger measures than those imposed by the Government, with many social media users criticising rule-breaking as a sign of selfish behaviour.
The results also indicate a number of users who actively used terms related to conspiracy theories and, although these views were found to be in the minority, they are noted to have played a role in undermining the efforts to contain the pandemic.
