Public Officials' Engagement on Social Media During the Rollout of the COVID-19 Vaccine: Content Analysis of Tweets.

BACKGROUND: Social media is an important way for governments to communicate with the public. This is particularly true in times of crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, during which government officials played a strong role in promoting public health measures such as vaccines. OBJECTIVE: In Canada, provincial COVID-19 vaccine rollout was delivered in 3 phases aligned with federal government COVID-19 vaccine guidance for priority populations. In this study, we examined how Canadian public officials used Twitter to engage with the public about vaccine rollout and how this engagement has shaped public response to vaccines across jurisdictions. METHODS: We conducted a content analysis of tweets posted between December 28, 2020, and August 31, 2021. Leveraging the social media artificial intelligence tool Brandwatch Analytics, we constructed a list of public officials in 3 jurisdictions (Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia) organized across 6 public official types and then conducted an English and French keyword search for tweets about vaccine rollout and delivery that mentioned, retweeted, or replied to the public officials. We identified the top 30 tweets with the highest impressions in each jurisdiction in each of the 3 phases (approximately a 26-day window) of the vaccine rollout. The metrics of engagement (impressions, retweets, likes, and replies) from the top 30 tweets per phase in each jurisdiction were extracted for additional annotation. We specifically annotated sentiment toward public officials' vaccine responses (ie, positive, negative, and neutral) in each tweet and annotated the type of social media engagement. A thematic analysis of tweets was then conducted to add nuance to extracted data characterizing sentiment and interaction type. RESULTS: Among the 6 categories of public officials, 142 prominent accounts were included from Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia. In total, 270 tweets were included in the content analysis and 212 tweets were direct tweets by public officials. Public officials mostly used Twitter for information provision (139/212, 65.6%), followed by horizontal engagement (37/212, 17.5%), citizen engagement (24/212, 11.3%), and public service announcements (12/212, 5.7%). Information provision by government bodies (eg, provincial government and public health authorities) or municipal leaders is more prominent than tweets by other public official groups. Neutral sentiment accounted for 51.5% (139/270) of all the tweets, whereas positive sentiment was the second most common sentiment (117/270, 43.3%). In Ontario, 60% (54/90) of the tweets were positive. Negative sentiment (eg, public officials criticizing vaccine rollout) accounted for 12% (11/90) of all the tweets. CONCLUSIONS: As governments continue to promote the uptake of the COVID-19 booster doses, findings from this study are useful in informing how governments can best use social media to engage with the public to achieve democratic goals.

Understanding 'flexing': the impact on mental health and public trust.

BACKGROUND: This correspondence explores the rising phenomenon of 'flexing' on social media, characterized by flaunting wealth and luxurious lifestyles. This trend is particularly prominent among influencers and some public officials in Indonesia. PROBLEM: We identify 'flexing' as a behavior that potentially harms both mental health and societal trust, creating an environment that contrasts starkly with the beneficial practice of 'sharenting,' which promotes sharing parental experiences for mutual support and healing. IMPLICATIONS: The influence of 'flexing' on public mental health and trust in the tax system requires thorough examination. CONCLUSION: Given its adverse effects, the correspondence emphasizes the need for comprehensive measures to address this issue.

Impact of Superiors' Ethical Leadership on Subordinates' Unethical Pro-Organizational Behavior: Mediating Effects of Followership.

This study examined the impact of superiors' ethical leadership on subordinates' unethical pro-organizational behavior (UPB) and the mediating effects of followership. The research subjects were officials from the ten central departments of the South Korean government, and a cross-sectional survey was conducted among them. Overall, 404 questionnaires were used in the empirical analysis. Multiple regression analysis and Hayes Process Macro were used to validate the research hypotheses, which examined the relationship among ethical leadership, followership, and UPB. The results are as follows: First, the relationship between ethical leadership and followership was statistically significant. Second, the study showed that followership had a statistically significant effect on UPB but not ethical leadership. Third, testing the hypotheses regarding the mediating effect of followership on the relationship between ethical leadership and UPB revealed statistically significant results. This study confirms that followership significantly influences UPB and suggests that ethical leadership is an important precedent factor of followership. The study concludes with the theoretical and practical implications of these findings, along with the study's limitations.

Rank, strain, and corruption among Chinese public officials: A general strain theory perspective.

The problem of corruption has long been a societal focus in China. Agnew's general strain theory (GST) offers a good explanation of the drive to engage in corruption; that is, offenders are likely to be driven by various types of strains and engage in corrupt behavior as a coping mechanism. However, whether and how an official's rank moderates the effect of strain on corrupt behavior has yet to be explored. The current study surveyed 687 inmates from 60 prisons in China who had been convicted of corrupt behaviors. The results show that although different levels of officials experience different types of strain, nearly all types of strains are significantly and positively associated with the frequency of corrupt behavior. As for the conditional effect, officials' ranks significantly moderate the relationship between work-related strain and the frequency of corrupt behavior; that is, work-related strain is shown to have a more significant effect on officials at the clerk level (a higher rank) than on officials at non-clerk level (a lower rank). This research is believed to further expand on the applicability of GST to corruption in non-Western societies.

How the Perception of Public Official on Organizational Culture Influences Procedural Justice in Environmental Policy Processes.

How does the organizational culture of local governments influence the type and extent of procedural justice in environmental policy processes? Using the culture theory developed by Mary Douglas and others, this research seeks to bring a new conception and new measures of organizational culture to the study of policy making by local governments. To contribute to the development of the conceptualization and measurement of procedural justice in the environmental policy processes of those governments, item response theory (IRT) graded response model (GRM) is used to show variations in difficulties and frequencies of adopting distinctive public participation strategies for improving procedural justice across local governments. In this study, original survey data is collected from Illinois municipalities and a finding is suggestive of cultural variables explaining the two dimensions of procedural justice, equal and authentic public participation, while other variables can, at best, explain only the equal public participation. Furthermore, as hypothesized, egalitarianism increases both equal and authentic public participation, individualism increases equal public participation, and fatalism decreases both.

Public priorities on locally-driven sea level rise planning on the East Coast of the United States.

Sea level rise poses a substantial concern to communities worldwide. Increased inundation, storm surge, saltwater intrusion, and other impacts create challenges which will require considerable planning to address. Recognizing the broad and differing scope of sea level rise issues and the variability of policy options to address them, local planning frameworks are necessary in addition to tools and resources available from state and federal governments. To help assess priorities and preferences on sea level rise planning, a survey of 503 persons affiliated with coastal communities on the East Coast of the United States was conducted in December 2017. This survey studied key aspects locally-driven sea level rise plans, including planning priorities, funding options, methods to resolve conflict, and potential responses. Six key findings address these and other concerns to provide the foundation of a locally driven framework for public officials.

The Health Status Assessment of Public Officials by Using Human Energy Monitor / 预防医学

Objective To explore the common characters of sub-health and health risk factors among the public officials. Methods A total of 2776 public officials were tested using human energy monitor.The score differences of health risk factors and the differences of risk detection rates (moderate and above)between males and females were compared.Results The scores of 1 2 kinds of health risk factors by descending order were lack of energy(1.1 1 ±1.01 ),susceptible to fatigue (1.09 ±1.26),stuffy nose(0.95 ±1.59),chest tightness and shortness of breath (0.94 ±0.91 ),difficulty in falling asleep (0.89 ±1.59 ),lack of appetite (0.76 ±0.76 ),anxiety (0.75 ±1.1 6 ),oral inflammation (0.75 ±1.21 ), respiratory disorders (0.69 ±0.83),eye fatigue (0.61 ±0.72),backache and leg swelling (0.60 ±0.72),and stomach upset (0.48 ±0.65 ),respectively. The scores of women were significantly higher than those of men in 1 1 kinds of health risk factors(P<0.01 )except the score of anxiety (P>0.05 ).The risk detection rates (moderate and above)of women were significantly higher than that of men (P<0.01 )in the following 5 aspects:lack of energy,susceptible to fatigue, stuffy nose,mouth inflammation,and backache and leg swelling.Conclusion Chronic fatigue syndrome is the most common character of the sub-healthy public officials,and women are more prone to sub-health state.

Pausa activa como factor de cambio en actividad física en funcionarios públicos / Active break as a changing factor in the physical activity of public officials

Introducción El aumento de la actividad física es uno de los componentes más importantes de un estilo de vida saludable vinculándose a beneficios físicos y mentales. La inactividad física aumenta la frecuencia y la duración de las incapacidades laborales lo cual presupone implicaciones desfavorables para el trabajador, para la empresa y para la sociedad. Objetivo Configurar el desempeño diferenciado del nivel de actividad física por unidad de trabajo pre y posintervención con pausas activas en funcionarios públicos en Chillán, Chile. Métodos Investigación descriptiva, exploratoria. Se aplicó el Cuestionario Internacional de Actividad Física formato corto, antes y después de la intervención con pausas activas en los mismos individuos, para medir el nivel de actividad física. Las pausas activas fueron de 15 minutos dos veces por semana, en el lugar de trabajo y se apoyaron en estrategias comunicacionales para fomentar la actividad física. Resultados Los datos revelaron que hubo una diferencia significativa después de la intervención, ya que aumenta el nivel de actividad física (t=-1,391) con el 95 % de nivel de confianza. Conclusiones Las pausas activas aumentan el nivel de actividad física de los usuarios, se establece un desempeño diferenciado pre y posintervención, y no se establece relación de dicho desempeño por unidad de trabajo.

Introduction The increased physical activity is one of the most important elements of a healthy lifestyle that renders physical and mental benefits. Lack of physical activity increases frequency and duration of working disabilities leading to unfavourable implications for the worker, the company and the society as a whole. Objective To shape the differentiated performance of the level of physical activity per working unit in the public officials from Chillán, Chile before and after the intervention with active breaks. Methods Exploratory descriptive intervention. The short version of the International Questionnaire of Physical Activity was applied before and after the intervention with active pauses to the same individuals, in order to measure the level of physical activity. The active pauses took 15 minutes twice a week at the workplace, and they were based on communication strategies to promote physical activity. Results Data yielded that there is significant difference after the intervention, since the level of physical activity increases (t=-1,391), with 95% CI. Conclusions The active breaks increase the level of physical activity of the users; differentiated performance before and after intervention is established and the association of such performance per working unit is not stated.