A study by the UJI proves that the pandemic has boosted WhatsApp communication between town councils and their citizens



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## A study by the UJI proves that the pandemic has boosted WhatsApp communication between town councils and their citizens

01/03/2022 |
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The study proves that digital platforms and especially mobile instant messaging services such as WhatsApp, have become essential tools for local councils.

Research carried out by lecturers Silvia Marcos, Hugo Doménech and Andreu Casero, from the Department of Communication Sciences at the Universitat Jaume I, has demonstrated the consolidation achieved by WhatsApp during the pandemic as the main tool for institutional communication between town councils in the Valencian Community and citizens. With the title *La 'plataformización' de la comunicación política institucional. El uso de WhatsApp por la Administración Local* [The 'platformisation' of institutional political communication. The use of WhatsApp by the Local Administration], the study proves that digital platforms and especially mobile instant messaging services such as WhatsApp, have become essential tools for local councils.

According to the conclusions of the study, local councils have seen in this means of communication a way to improve relations with the municipality's neighbourhood. Thus, the characteristics, uses and functions that local institutions confer to their messaging services have been analysed through a qualitative analysis based on in-depth interviews in 18 municipalities of different population sizes, identifying motivations and objectives of the implementation of these channels, as well as their contents and planning, without forgetting their future challenges.

"WhatsApp is established in local administrations, although its full potential is not exploited, mainly due to the lack of dialogue with citizens. This is partly explained by the fact that there is not always a solid strategic planning", explains Silvia Marcos, who adds that the fieldwork was carried out between the end of 2019 and the first months of 2020, resuming the interviews after the confinement. Precisely at that time, researchers found that during the period of the first impact of COVID-19, "WhatsApp became the main means of contact of the town councils with their citizens, who appreciated its role in receiving verified and correct information as opposed to false and/or erroneous information, considerably increasing the number of registrations to these services". In this sense, Marcos stresses that "even in small town councils, this was a way of creating community, initiatives and participation in the midst of lockdown, thus approaching citizens as the closest institution, providing information and reassurance in difficult times".

These results were homogeneous, explains Silvia Marcos, in the three types of town councils that were established: small (less than 10,000 inhabitants), medium (up to 50,000 residents) and large (above 50,000 residents).

Heterogeneity arises when analysing the people responsible for the service, given the problem of the lack of human resources to attend to these channels. In many cases, they are the journalists in charge of the municipal communications office, "but in some cases in smaller towns it was even the mayor himself". This circumstance has as a consequence the other problem observed in the behaviour of these channels: the lack of interaction, which in their institutional use "practically does not exist, despite the fact that the channel is recognised as the best tool to convey messages to citizens".

In addition, the study found that local councils do not work with WhatsApp groups, but with broadcast lists, in order to guarantee the protection of personal data. On the other hand, a progressive simplification of the procedure for registering on these lists has been observed: "At the beginning there were some municipalities that asked to fill in a form, but later this has become much more agile, by providing a name and a telephone number".

This research has been possible thanks to the grant for consolidatable research groups from the Subprogramme for the Consolidation and Strengthening of R & D & I Projects and Groups of the Generalitat Valenciana (AICO/2019).

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