Martin Mungai Ndung’u1; Dr John Kitur2;
Prof Rosemary Mbogo3
|
This
study investigated the role of Social Networking Sites (SNS) in communication
during crises Key
Words: Communication, Crisis management, Public secondary schools,. Social
Networking Sites, Information Management [WU3]
|
Organizations
such as public schools face many crises emanating from within or outside of the
school. These crises, when inappropriately handled, may lead to more dire
repercussions. Crisis management is part of the normal school environment since
problems or disasters are deemed to arise at any point during the institution’s
life cycle (Ndana, 2015). Crises could arise from within the organization or
outside, including administrative and stakeholder-related problems. Ndana
(2015) notes that head teachers in secondary schools in Kenya face crises as
minor as: students’ disagreements to disasters as severe as destructive
lawsuits. Therefore, crises management processes present important frameworks
for handling such situations. There have
been many approaches which have been used to respond to the crises. One such
technique is the use of Social Networking Sites in crisis management.
Social
Networking Sites (SSN) refer to the employment of mobile and web-based
technology to create highly interactive platforms through which individuals and
communities share, co-create and modify user-generated content (Kietzmannn,
2012, pp. 16-21). Boyd defines SSN as
virtual communities where users can create individual public profiles, interact
with real-life friends, and meet other people based on shared interests. They
are “web-based services that allow individuals to: (1)
construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, (2)
articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and (3)
view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the
system” (boyd, 2008). [WU5]
Kaplan and
Haenlein (2010) [WU6] classified Social Networking Sites into six different
classes as follow:
i
Collaborative Projects, (Wikipedia and google docs)
ii Blogs and Microblogs (Twitter,
Instagram, TikTok)
iii Content Communities
iv Social Networking Sites (Facebook;
2go; BB chat)
v Virtual Game World (World of
warcraft)
vi Virtual Second World (Second life)
Technology
includes blogs, picture sharing, music sharing, crowdsourcing, e-mail, instant
messaging and voice over. These services could be integrated via social network
aggregation platforms. People use SNS platforms since they are simple and with
minimal dynamics. These platforms are simple to use yet they have profound
interaction complexities such as Artificial Intelligence (AI). They can lead to
the dissemination of information to masses of people in one instant, hence
their imperativeness in crisis management.
Jie
Xu (2020) [WU7] notes that a respectable number of studies have emphasized
the nexus between crisis management and SNS. Most of the studies maintained
that public relations practitioners have adopted social media in running an
organization and this has also been extended to manage crises. Alanezi (2020)
indicates that SNS have brought a new face to crisis communication. Therefore,
when a crisis occurs, the public opts to the utilization of SNS to solicit
emotional support bundling up virtually to share information and demand
solutions (Alanezi, 2020). Globally,
crisis management in public institutions has been managed through effective use
of SNS to give correct information effectively and efficiently to the
stakeholders and the general public. A
study in Kuwait middle schools on the use of social networks by Principals in
managing a school crisis found a low degree of dependence by principals on
social networks in general and across all stages of a crisis. The most used
social networks included WhatsApp (69.7%), Twitter (24.2%), and Facebook and
Instagram (up to 3%) (Alanezi, 2020). The study is concentrated in the
secondary education sub-sector which consists of public schools and is crucial
because it forms the critical base from which manpower is generated for
national development and for participation in the global economy. Public
schools have students, teachers and parents as the main stakeholders; however,
the suppliers and general public also play a crucial role in the management of
these institutions. Therefore, accurate
and timely information sharing, and management needs to be done systematically
to avoid speculations when an issue arises in the school. Some of the common
LITERATURE
REVIEW[WU9]
The
principles of this research were informed by literature from the following
fields: . 1) Public Educational Institutions, 2) Management in Educational
Institutions, 3) Some Social Networking Sites, 4) Communication in educational
institutions during crisis and 4) Context: Public secondary Schools in Nairobi
County. An exploratory strategy was used in the review to get a better
understanding of the function of Social Networking Sites and the relationship
that exists among them in handling a crisis at a public secondary school.
As of January 2020, there were 22.86
million internet users in Kenya. This number had increased by 3.2 million
between 2019 and 2020. This increment accounts for 16% add up within a year
(Matanji, 2020). As of the same January of 2020, internet penetration in Kenya
stood at 43%. Social Networking Sites usage alone, accounted for almost half of
the total internet utilization percentage, with a whooping 8.80 million users
as per January data. The number of
Social Networking Sites users experienced an increase of 1.0 million, which is
roughly 13%, for the period of April 2019 to January 2020 (Matanji, 2020).
Social Networking Sites penetration in Kenya, therefore, stood at 17% for the
same period. Mobile connections enable
most of the internet connections in Kenya, and as of January 2020, there were
52.06 million mobile connections.
In Kenya, school Principals are
classified as the administrators and supervisors of the education system, countrywide [WU10] they are the link between educational policies and the
implementers of the said policies. Principals draw their authority from the
Education Act of 1968. The principals play out their role within two contexts,
namely the system in which their duties are embedded and secondly the community
within which their schools are located (Akinyi, 2020).
Secondary school education in Kenya is guided
by sector policies articulated in the Sessional Paper No. 1 of 2005, Kenya
Education Sector Support Program (2005-2010), Economic Recovery
Strategy for Wealth and Employment Creation (ERSWC, 2003) [WU11] and the Vision 2030. Vision 2030, in particular, underscores
the importance of secondary school education in laying a firm base for skills
development at higher levels of education, including technological adaptation,
innovation and technology. It is noted that a great number of people have
subscribed to the online networks and have embedded them into their lives and
that due to this, communications and interactions between individuals and
groups have changed in significant ways. Internet use of platforms like
Facebook can be interactively fertile, rich, diverse, and expanded according to
both ethnographic and survey studies. Walt (2012) says that it is hardly
unthinkable that one can make the case that authentic relationships cannot be
realized through the contribution of Social Networking Sites. In America alone,
statistics show that out of the marriages that took place in 2011, one in eight
of those couples met online. But yet still, the superficial nature of online
communities is scoffed at by many.
The goal of Social Networking Sites
should be to engage and build relationships, regardless of the tool, and this
ought to be the reason behind using these network
In Ghana, a study done by Mahama (2020), sought to
investigate how government communicators take advantage of social media
channels in conveying policy narratives while expanding or containing
coalitions. With the positive effects of social media, attention has been
focused on expanding the frontiers to areas such as the direct benefit of
social media to citizens. For government policies and processes to be more
effective and efficient, the government must invest social and human capital
into social media's usage in order to generate the necessary feedback that will
inform policy.
In Kenya, [WU13] a study conducted by Kabura (2019) found that Social
Networking Sites is a better communication platform in crisis management and it
reaches the intended audience on time during a crisis situation. She further
presents that the SNS are moderately effective during a crisis and the main
reason attributed by Safaricom is that queries by social media users are
responded on time and to their satisfaction.
In the 21st century,
Social Networking Sites are the trending media. People tweet on the improbable
plots being aired on television shows. Individuals brief their friends about
links to information sites on Facebook. People view each other’s status on the
daily occurrences of the world in WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram. Facebook
for example allows users to chat with others, share photos, videos, and links
to separate websites making them a very attractive platform for communication
purposes, (Fazeli et al, 2021). Social Networking
Sites platforms are sites which harbor very many people; therefore, information
distortion is inevitable (Malekhosseini, Hosseinzadeh & Navi, 2018),
especially for the type of message that has to undergo different checkpoints.
As a result, the study aims to identify the channels through which the crisis
in public secondary schools is passed, how the information is disseminated, and
if distortion occurs, the study analyses the extent to which information can be
rendered invalid.
In Nigeria for instance, Social
Networking Sites such as Twitter, Facebook and WhatsApp easily created tension
between state authorities and networked citizens. The recent banning of Twitter
by the Nigerian government is an indicator that distorted information can
easily be a source of conflict.
Differences expressed in online forums can generate responses in
real-time, in the real world. Some challenges accompany the use of platforms
with massive audiences. Yet the benefits can outweigh the risks if governments
recognize that it gives them greater reach to their citizens (Adegoke, 2019).[WU14]
Locally, the use of SNS in crisis
management is largely done in the corporate sector and in a few public
institutions; many public schools have however not embraced the use of SNS.
This is because communication in the public schools is done through conventional
means such as, newsletters, phone calls and Instant Messaging (IM). The use of
SNS is confined to WhatsApp. The information largely shared may include but not
limited to, fees structure, opening and closing dates, scheduled meetings,
academic reports among others. However,
Crisis such as bullying and other
deviant behaviors in public secondary schools have been reported and amplified
through Social Networking Sites ( as reported in the local print dailies and
electronic media
Methodology
There
were ten (10) secondary schools in Westlands, according to the MOE records (Kituko,2020). [WU19] This study targeted respondents in all the ten public
secondary schools in Westlands Sub-County that had Social Networking Sites
interactions. Therefore, the research targeted some of these schools which
included: two boys’ boarding schools, two girls’ bording schools and one day
school. The researcher administered questionnaires in Google forms to the
sample size of Westlands Subcounty public secondary schools as they are
distributed in the schools within Nairobi County. The breakdown was on
Principals (10), teachers (42), parents (114), union officials (3) and MOE
officials (2) Data were
analyzed descriptively using
percentages and standard deviations. Regarding inferential statistics,
correlation Analysis was run to establish the nature and significance of the
relationship between independent and dependent variables and
THE RESPONSE RATE
The
quality of the data gathered, and the methods employed to collect it are both
described by the response rate. Surveys are well established means for
gathering statistical profiles in this regard that cannot be obtained from
other sources. The response rate in this study was calculated as 95% as seen in
Table 6.
|
School per category |
Initial Sample |
Response |
Response Rate (%) |
|
Boys Schools |
|
|
|
|
Sub Total |
13 |
12 |
92 |
|
Girls Schools |
|
|
|
|
Sub Total |
19 |
18 |
94 |
|
Mixed Schools |
|
|
|
|
Sub Total |
19 |
18 |
94 |
|
Principals |
10 |
10 |
100 |
|
Total |
61 |
58 |
95 |
The overall response rate for the
study was 95% of the total sample.
DEMOGRAPHIC
DATA
Age
According
to Table 7, the distribution of the age bracket of the respondents was as
follows: (48.3%) of respondents were aged 50 years and above. Furthermore, the
results recognized that (34.5%) and (13.8%) were between the ages of 40 and 49
as well as 30 and 39 respectively. The 20-29 age group made up the smallest
portion of this set of participants, accounting for just (3.4%) of the total.
These findings implies that respondents above 50 years were the major
participants who might have experience in matters relating to Social Networking
Sites. However, (3.4%) of respondents constituted those within 20-29 years.
This finding implies that that age group might not be experienced with how SNS
affect crisis management. This finding agrees with that of Drouin, McDaniel,
Pater and Toscos (2020) results who found that the vast majority of social
media participants over the age of 65 only use Facebook, despite younger age
groups exhibiting a predisposition to utilize a wider range of online media,
particularly including Snapchat and Instagram. According to statistics,
Facebook is currently used by 41% of those over the age of 65, with LinkedIn
coming in second with 9% of users. From a short-term viewpoint, this indicates
that Facebook is the platform on which to concentrate our efforts when
communicating to older consumers, however this could all change in the next few
years.
|
Age stratum |
Frequency |
Percent |
|
|
|
20-29
years |
2 |
3.4 |
|
30-39
years |
8 |
13.8 |
|
|
40-49
years |
20 |
34.5 |
|
|
Above 50
years |
28 |
48.3 |
|
|
Total |
58 |
100.0 |
|
GENDER
Respondents' gender was descriptively analysed as shown in
Table 8 below. The results showed that (55.2%) of respondents were males while (44.8%)
constituted female respondents. The
quality of the research is improved and the market acceptance of innovation is
improved by the inclusion of gender analysis in the research content. Gender
study provides current empirical knowledge about gendered behaviors,
expectations, and discourses in ways that are socially meaningful. According to
Van Der Veur (2007), gender plays a significant role in determining which
people in a society have access to power, privilege, and opportunities. This
study shows proportional differences between male and female participants in
crisis management. As it has been observed, more males participated than
females, as males are more inclined to the use of technology than females. The
finding is presented in Table 8.
|
|
Frequency |
Percent |
Chi-square (χ2) |
p-value |
|
Male |
32 |
55.2 |
0.621 |
0.431 |
|
Female |
26 |
44.8 |
|
|
|
Total |
58 |
100.0 |
|
|
Type of School
It was observed that (37.9%) of participants were from girls
boarding. Furthermore, (34.5%) and (27.6%) were from mixed and
|
|
Type of School |
Total |
||||
|
Boys Boarding |
Girls Boarding |
Mixed School |
||||
|
Gender |
Male |
Count |
10 |
10 |
12 |
32 |
|
%
of Total |
17.2% |
17.2% |
20.7% |
55.2% |
||
|
Female |
Count |
6 |
12 |
8 |
26 |
|
|
%
of Total |
10.3% |
20.7% |
13.8% |
44.8% |
||
|
|
Count |
16 |
22 |
20 |
58 |
|
|
%
of Total |
27.6% |
37.9% |
34.5% |
100.0% |
||
Type of Social Networking Sites
The
study indicates that (52%) of participants typically used WhatsApp while
Facebook and Instagram users represented (47%) of the participants
respectively. In addition, it was also noted that (21%) never used Twitter.
Furthermore, (14%) notably argued that they never used Facebook. In conclusion,
it was observed that the type of social networking site mainly used was
WhatsApp (Mean
Table 10: Type of Social Networking
Si
|
Type of
SNS |
Never |
Rarely |
Sometimes |
Always |
Mean |
SD |
|
I typically use WhatsApp |
2% |
29% |
17% |
52% |
3.18 |
0.92 |
|
I mostly use Twitter |
21% |
16% |
19% |
45% |
2.87 |
1.20 |
|
I regularly use Facebook |
14% |
12% |
28% |
47% |
3.06 |
1.07 |
|
I mostly use Instagram |
10% |
22% |
21% |
47% |
3.03 |
1.05 |
QUALITATIVE DATA FOR OBJECTIVE ONE
The sampled head teacher
participants had the following views concerning the types of SNS they use. They
affirmed that: The prominent Social Networking Sites used in school were
Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp. However, the school rarely uses SNS to
communicate to its users unless it’s a WhatsApp communication.
This finding agrees with the
quantitative data that showed that schools were yet to fully embrace usage of
Social Networking Sites in crisis management.
Due to the
social sharing feature and the enormous number of people that regularly use the
platforms, social media can assist spread information quickly in times of need.
The objective was to
ascertain how the extent of Utilization of various forms of Social Networking
Sites networks affect Crisis Management of public secondary schools in Nairobi
County, Westlands Subcounty.
The study found that (58%) of
participants affirmed that they use SNS in publishing information regarding
their school such as academic clinics among others. This implies that SNS could
enhance information sharing within a given defined network. In addition, (74%)
affirmed that they use SNS because it breaks news faster as compared to the
traditional broadcast media. Social media is thought to spread information to a
sizable number of people who are connected to one another either directly or
indirectly but who are part of the same network. This viewpoint is in line with
that of Aillerie and McNicol (2016), [WU22] who affirm that SNSs offer a significant quantity of data as
well as different sorts of information compared to that available from many
other sources and covering a broad variety of themes. Therefore, SNSs can be
thought of as efficient information centers.
It may seem important to use social
media during the crisis response phase to deal with the immediate and
operational impact of a crisis. The current study established that (76% )of
participants agree that they use SNS to reduce the tension of the situation
within our school. Furthermore (69%) of respondents assert that they used SNS
to provoke participation among stakeholders in their school This perspective is
consistent with that of Eismann, Posegga, and Fischbach (2021), [WU23] who emphasize that social media give organizations the
chance to integrate information, knowledge, and collaborative processes that
exist outside of their established structures in addition to allowing them to
learn about a crisis as it is happening (i.e., intra-crisis learning). They can
therefore enable organizations to support crisis management.
The use of modern technology to
communicate with parents quickly, easily, and in a variety of ways indicates
their potential to improve ties between different contexts, such as home and
school. According to the finding, (43%) of respondents agreed that they used
SNS to a considerable extent since it remained the most preferred tool for
communication among the target audience. Furthermore, up to 33% of participants
indicated that they used SNS to a considerable extent since it allowed
real-time messaging among the stakeholders. These findings indicate that social
networks that allow real-time feedback are usually preferred by the clients.
These findings are in line with those of Ogie et al. (2022),who affirms that
using social media for crisis response work has advantages such as enabling
remote posting of updates by schools, facilitating discussion and support,
providing access to resources, and enhancing community perceptions of a caring
and helpful school culture. Due to cell phone networks' inability to manage the
high volume of incoming calls, social media may also be one of the only ways
for families to get contact during major crises.
The many benefits of social media during and after school
emergencies must be acknowledged by administrators and members of the crisis
response team. From the findings, it was noted that (29%) of respondents
affirmed that the use of SNS enabled their institution to distract rumors and
propaganda to a very large extent. The results of this study are in line with
those of Kerr and King (2018), [WU24] who stress the ability of social media to swiftly reach a
larger group. They assert that by using social media to share crisis
information, the school can more swiftly refute rumors and correct
inaccuracies.
However, in a parallel dimension,
the study also sought to determine the level to which the parents would go to
air their grievances regarding the school. Surprisingly, a greater percentage
of the parents presented their complaints on social media platforms before
addressing them with the school administration. The finding is given in Table 15.[WU25]
Table 15: Extent of
Utilization of Social Networking Sites.
|
Statement |
NA |
LE |
SE |
LE |
VLE |
Mean |
SD |
|
I use SNS in publishing
information regarding our school such as academic clinics among others. |
3% |
38% |
12% |
36% |
10% |
3.12 |
1.14 |
|
I use SNS because it breaks news
faster as compared to the traditional broadcast media |
9% |
17% |
22% |
36% |
16% |
3.32 |
1.19 |
|
I use SNS to reduce the tension of
the situation within our school |
2% |
22% |
16% |
38% |
22% |
3.56 |
1.12 |
|
I use SNS to provoke participation
among stakeholders in our school |
7% |
24% |
14% |
33% |
22% |
3.39 |
1.26 |
|
use SNS to allow real-time messaging among
the stakeholders |
12% |
19% |
28% |
24% |
17% |
3.15 |
1.26 |
|
I use SNS because it is the most
preferred tool for communication among the target audience |
10% |
16% |
16% |
43% |
16% |
3.37 |
1.22 |
|
Use of SNS has enabled our
institution to distract rumors and propaganda |
10% |
24% |
9% |
28% |
29% |
3.41 |
1.40 |
NA=Not at All; LE=Little Extent;
SE=Some Extent; LE=Large Extent; VLE=Very Large Extent
4.4.2 QU[RM26] ALITATIVE DATA FOR EXTENT OF UTILIZATION OF SNS
The sampled head teacher respondents
regarding the current social networking site usage opined that: The
platform is essential but unmanned. Moreover, SNS is important, but efforts
have not benefitted through active use by the school. On the other the Ministry
of Education officials observed that: “We
usually use WhatsApp as the chief mode of communication with head teachers.
However, during delicate crisis situations, we minimize this mode of
communication and resort to other traditional mode of communication.” They cited the policy on communication from
the Ministry of Education that guided on the mode of communication.
Regarding utilization of SNS, the qualitative data showed
that the majority of parents averred that: “
Furthermore, the survey also aimed to ascertain the extremes
to which parents were willing to go in order to voice their concerns about the
school. Surprisingly, parents also reported that:
“Majority of us find it easy to post a complaint on social
media platforms before addressing them with the school administration. It is
only a few who can use a face-to-face channel of airing grievances.”
This qualitative data concurs with
the quantitative that were collected from teachers who had affirmed that they
utilized SNS to a lesser extent in communicating with the
4.4.3 CORRELATION ANALYSIS [RM27] FOR EXTENT OF UTILIZATION OF SNS
In this section, Pearson correlation
analysis was run to establish the nature and significance of the relationship
between Extent of Utilization of SNS and dependent variable, Crisis Management.
it was established that there is a statistically and significant relationship
at 0.05 alpha level between extent of utilization of SNS and Crisis management
(r=0.850**; p<0.05). This suggests that the extent of utilization
of SNS has a positive correlation with how the crisis is managed. The finding
of the correlation matrix is shown in Table 16. In this research, a correlation
of 0.8 denotes a strong correlation between extent of utilization of SNS and
crisis management.
Table 16: Correlation between Extent of Utilization of SNS and Crisis Management
|
|
|
Crisis
Management |
|
Extent of Utilization of SNS |
Pearson Correlation |
.850** |
|
|
Sig. (2-tailed) |
.000 |
|
|
N |
58 |
UTILIZATION SNS IN REGARDS TO CRISES[RM28]
The study established that (39%) of the participants
indicated that they used SNS to assess the magnitude of disaster or crisis. It
is crucial that school officials respond to allegations of a crisis. This
entails determining the crisis's severity. Furthermore, (38%) of participants
reported that they used SNS to a large extent in monitoring social media
mentions for appropriate action. The
researchers also claimed that with widespread participation, it is simple for
informed individuals to dispel any false stories that do start to spread.
Instantaneous and effective communication between
institutions and the populations they serve is essential. According to the
findings, up to (43%) of participants reported that they used SNS, to a large
extent, to provide instant feedback to the clients. This suggests that to
notify the general public about the mitigation techniques in a crisis
situation, the school administration thought they must act quickly. These
technologies' benefits include being free, quick, and simple to use. They also
reduce workload and time waste by sending out mass communications.
Information sharing on social media in schools is becoming
more and more widespread. To lessen the effects of a crisis, school officials
must respond quickly and accurately following an incident. According to this
current research, (34%) of participants asserted that they use SNS to provide
emotional support and healing when a relevant crisis has happened. Furthermore,
31% of the participants acknowledged that they used SNS in rebuilding
confidence by engaging the public directly. This implies that when SNS is used
appropriately, organizations can rebuild confidence and trust from the clients.
This perspective is like that of Conolly and Crepeau-Hobson
(2020), [WU29] who claim that social media can offer reliable and current
information as well as practical resources for crisis prevention and crisis
recovery. In this context, schools could make use of SNS to share information
about the crisis, as well as to demonstrate their support and the actions they
plan to take to resolve it. Table 20 shows the finding.
Table 20: Response to Social
Networking Sites Content
|
Statement |
NA |
LE |
SE |
LE |
VLE |
Mean |
SD |
||||||
|
7% |
26% |
28% |
29% |
10% |
3.10 |
1.11 |
|||||||
|
I use SNS to provide Instant
Feedback to the clients |
17% |
14% |
12% |
43% |
14% |
3.22 |
1.33 |
||||||
|
I use SNS to Provide emotional
support & healing when a crisis is mentioned |
3% |
19% |
21% |
34% |
22% |
3.53 |
1.14 |
||||||
|
I use SNS in Rebuilding confidence
by engaging the public directly |
9% |
24% |
22% |
31% |
14% |
3.17 |
1.20 |
||||||
|
I use SNS in Monitoring social
media mentions for appropriate action |
5% |
26% |
10% |
38% |
21% |
3.43 |
1.22 |
||||||
NA=Not at All; LE=Little Extent; SE=Some Extent; LE=Large
Extent; VLE=Very Large Extent
.
QUALITATIVE DATA FOR ANALYSIS OF A CRISIS
The heads of schools who were chosen
shared the following thoughts about their response on social media queries. The
affirmed that:
SNS is a good platform,
CRISIS
MANAGEMENT
The dependent variable for the study
was analyzed and presented in Table 20. [WU30] The main indicators for this variable include|: Disaster
planning and training, Problem solving, decision making and information
dissemination. The study
established that (40%) of participants indicated that they use Social
Network Sites in response, planning and training concerning a crisis to a large
extent. However, up to (29%) lamented that they never use Social Network Sites
in crisis management. This implies that in order to send out timely messages
and identify spreading rumors, SNS officials must constantly monitor public
postings on social media. Moreover, (43%) of participants averred that they use
Social Network Sites in problem solving regarding a crisis. This suggests that
Social Networking Sites continue to be an essential tool for providing prompt
attention to problems affecting learning institutions. These findings are in
agreement with those of Kabura (2019), who discovered that Social Networking
Sites are a better communication medium for crisis management and that they
effectively reach their intended audience when a crisis occurs.
In times of crisis, an
organization should use SNS to make decisions and offer solutions. In this
research, it was found that 28% of respondents assert that they used Social Network Sites to a
large extent in decision making as regards to a crisis. Additionally, 33% of
participants stated that they used Social Network Sites to Provide updates on
critical issues that have arisen. Also (29%) asserted that they used Social
Network Sites in information dissemination relating to a crisis. This finding
is in line with that of Lachlan et al. (2015), [WU31] who note that increased social media use during a crisis,
coupled with the public's expectation of receiving information quickly and, at
the same time, the natural tendency of rumor spreading on social media, can
foster the spread of false disaster-related information. Social networking site
administrators must quickly correct fraudulent remarks that are posted on
social media sites.
|
Statement |
NA |
LE |
SE |
LE |
VLE |
Mean |
SD |
|
I use Social Network Sites in
response, planning and training concerning a crisis |
3% |
26% |
16% |
40% |
16% |
3.37 |
1.13 |
|
I use Social Network Sites in
Problem solving regarding a crisis |
21% |
7% |
17% |
43% |
12% |
3.18 |
1.34 |
|
I use Social Network Sites in
decision making as regards to a crisis |
10% |
16% |
22% |
28% |
24% |
3.39 |
1.29 |
|
I use Social Network Sites in
Information dissemination relating to a crisis |
12% |
16% |
26% |
29% |
17% |
3.24 |
1.26 |
|
I use Social Network Sites to
Provide updates on critical issues that have arisen |
3% |
28% |
14% |
33% |
22% |
3.43 |
1.21 |
NA=Not at All; LE=Little Extent; SE=Some Extent; LE=Large
Extent; VLE=Very Large Extent
CONCLUSION
SNS have influenced crisis communication;
hence, crisis management in the social media realm has become more complex by
the virtue that school are not actively utilizing this space while the rest of
the world is using it effectively. Schools have allowed themselves to be points
of discussion in times of crisis without the benefit of an appropriate avenue
for responding to the interested parties on critical matters that are the basis
for a crisis. Furthermore, schools have lost opportunities to benefit economically
and socially from the community by not positioning themselves strategically in
the social environment.
The study showed that schools are present in
SNS platforms and update their information; however, they do not necessarily
use these platforms as the primary sources of crisis communication.
Furthermore, schools do not actively address the grievances of most parents who
are active in the SNS. The parents together with the general public, complain
and sometimes compliment these schools on platforms such as WhatsApp, Facebook
and Twitter without any credible response from the school. When a school is in
crisis, some teachers, parents, and the non-teaching staff would go to their
social media pages and update the public on the conditions of the school.
However, the school itself does not actively participate in the communication
process on those platforms. As a result, information regarding a crisis
situation goes directly to the public without any control of the content by the
school management.
Formal methods such as
letters and person to person communication are still preferred in the schools
to communicate the status of the institutions to the public. Schools,
especially public secondary schools, need to adapt and ensure that social media
is effectively used in crisis communication to facilitate proper crisis
management. Therefore, these schools should ensure their SNS platforms are
user-friendly, constantly active with live updates, and provides all relevant
information in good time during a crisis. This is an essential aspect that
schools have been lacking in their utilization of Social Networking Sites in
crisis management. Thus far, social media has been used by everyone else during
a crisis, except the schools themselves. The impact is that the crisis
escalates in the SNS platforms with minimal to zero communication from the
schools’ representatives. Biegon (2017), agrees with the statement that, the
SNS platforms are fast methods to disseminate information to the public.
Failure to effectively manage information distributed by other parties other
than the school management is catastrophic to the crisis management efforts by
the school.
RECOMMENDATIONS
This
research recommends that school principals start prioritizing the use of social
media in efforts to enhance effectiveness and efficiency in crisis management.
The ministry is obligated to add a new role in public secondary schools, known
as a social media controller. The school’s social media controller is
more like a public relations person, only that they operate on the SNS
platforms. This employee’s role is to communicate effectively to the public and
any other concerned stakeholder, especially during a crisis. The employee is
mandated to gather facts from the school and regarding the school in times of
crisis, then convey these facts in a manner that is effectively regarded by the
concerned parties.
Furthermore,
through the social media controller, the study recommends that the schools
adopt a feedback mechanism that enables the institutions to communicate with
people through SNS and at the same time maintaining integrity and
confidentiality of information disseminated to the public. The emphasis on this
part is to manage the crisis, not to escalate the problem.
Crisis
management in public secondary schools defines a benchmark for crisis
management in all schools in Kenya. Therefore, crisis management in schools can
also be enhanced by encouraging teachers, parents, the non-teaching staff, and
other stakeholders to the schools to fully utilize SNS in communicating crises
in a manner that positively affects the general public. These stakeholders
should be guided on how to treat confidential and sensitive information in the
public domain through efficient laws and guidelines on SNS use. These laws and
guidelines should emanate from the unions and the Ministry of Education down to
the schools. The principals/managers of the public schools
will be better equipped during a crisis management through accurate, timely,
and relevant communication. On the other hand, researchers will have a vantage
point of reference because this will be a major aspect of study for analyzing
the role and impact of social media in crisis management in public schools and
beyond.
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[WU2]Consider reducing the abstract to 250 words. It should start with a
thesis statement following the format below;
Thesis statement
Statement of the problem
Objectives
Methodology
Results
Recommendation
Key terms
[WU3]Arrange your key terms in an alphabetical order
[WU4]Rewrite the headings in upper case
[WU5]Cite this section, provide the name of the author.
[WU6]Provide this missing reference
[WU7]Provide this missing reference.
[WU8]Provide this missing reference
[WU9]Rewrite in UPPER case.
[WU10]It should be on word.
[WU11]Provide this missing reference
[WU12]Add a comma
[WU13]Add a comma.
[WU14]Reference missing
[WU15]Reference missing
[WU16]Edit to APA
[WU17]Reference missing
[WU18]Reference missing
[WU19]Reference missing
[RM20]If the hypothesis was
one, this is okay but if many pluralise
[WU21]Reference missing
[WU22]Reference missing
[WU23]Reference missing
[WU24]Reference missing
[WU25]Consider naming your tables consecutively.
[RM26]Group this with other
qualitative data below
[RM27]Group this with previous,
quantitive analysis
[RM28]Group this with other
quantitative analysis section
[WU29]Reference missing
[WU30]Revise this sentence
[WU31]Provide this reference
[WU32]Edit this reference to APA. It should be;
Alanezi, A. (2020). Using Social Networks in School Crisis Management: Evidence from Middle
School Principals in Kuwait. Department of
Educational Administration and Planning, College of Education, Kuwait
University, Kuwait. https://doi.org/10.1080/03004279.2020.1817964
[WU33]This
reference should be edited to: Fazeli, M. A., Moghaddasi, H., Hosseini, A.,
Asadi, F., Haghighi, H. (2021). Application of ICT in effective crisis
management: A systematic review. J Emerg
Manag. 19(6), 591-606. http://doi:10.5055/jem.0612.PMID:34878167
[WU34]Edit to
APA, this should be; Kaigwa, M., Madung, O., & Nendo, C. S. (2015). Social
Media Trend Report, 2014-2019. Nendo Ventures, Kenya, Nairobi, 2015.
http://www.slideshare.net/nairdallah/social-media-trend-report-2014-to-2019
[WU35]Edit to APA. This should be
Ndana J. M. (2015).
The Administrative Problems that Public Secondary School Head Teachers Face in
Kenya: A Case Study of Kitui Sub-County.
[WU36]Edit this reference to APA 7th edition. Simon,
M. K., & Goes, J. (2013). Dissertations and Scholarly Research: Recipes for Success.
Dissertation Success LLC.
[RM37]This section needs to be
edited more accurately. Point it to the publisher to provide needed help
