Covid-19 pandemic, Communication and Relationship: An Analysis of the Social Media of the University of Minho

Abstract

This article aims to analyze how the University of Minho (UMinho), in Portugal, used social media Facebook and Instagram to communicate and build relationships with its audiences in the first two months of the Covid-19 pandemic. Through a qualitative research, of an exploratory character, based on the netnographic method (Kozinets, 2010), we observe both the theme, purpose and engagement of publications carried out by the University, as well as the interactions developed from these publications. We realized that the Institution's presence on the social networks Facebook and Instagram was managed within the framework of a crisis management process that highlighted concrete institutional actions and positive emotions and sought to motivate audiences and convey confidence. But he did not use all the natural potential of social networks to develop two-way communication, interacting and building relationships with audiences. In a brief look at the social networks of major universities in Europe in the same period, we realized that UMinho's behavior is in line with that of its counterparts: weak interaction, short dialogue. In this context, we can even say that it went further, since it prepared an institutional communication campaign for the period and used an emotional tone, something unusual, in the initial period of the pandemic, among European universities.