Navigating COVID-19

Abstract

This chapter examines the activities of the official Instagram and Facebook pages of the Directorate-General for Health (DGS) in Portugal during the most critical period of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country. Data were collected using social media APIs via CrowdTangle, resulting in 1,841 public posts spanning from March 2, 2020 to December 27, 2020. This period covered the onset of the pandemic and the launch of the national vaccination program. Social media platforms played a crucial role during the COVID-19 pandemic. The key findings reveal Facebook had twice as many posts (n = 120) compared to Instagram (n = 64). April saw the highest post volume on Facebook (13.4%), while June was the most active month on Instagram (14.3%). Images were the dominant content format on both platforms, with 70.7% on Instagram and 80.5% on Facebook. Facebook experienced significant growth (497.0%) over 10 months while Instagram's growth was more modest (207.0%).