Communication in the pandemic age

A health crisis of this magnitude involves several different actors: spokespeople for the national, provincial and municipal governments, spokespeople for the health sectors involved, corporate communications and Public Relations agents, and the outlets, intermediaries and opinion-formers who communicate the available information. But there is another actor, which has never previously existed in this type of crisis: online communication and social networks.

Communication has become a veritable waterfall of amplified information, which sets the media agenda. Traditional media and social networks interact constantly.

Furthermore it must be taken into account that social networks, with their amplificatory power, tend to polarize information, which is not ideal. We see examples of this every day, with some expressing themselves to dismiss the disease, while others offer hysterically exaggerated opinions.

Looking back at communications during previous health crises, one of the most recent took place in 2009, when the H1N1 flu appeared in our lives. At that time, Facebook had a much lower volume of users than today – 350 million – and was under scrutiny over the invasion of its users’ privacy, which is no longer a major ongoing concern.

Reality has changed substantially, and today Facebook provides companies with a way to build meaningful connections with people, in order to mitigate the impact of the outbreak.

In 2009 Twitter was in its infancy, and by late November of that year its Spanish version had appeared.

Nowadays not only are both social networks social forces to be reckoned with – with Twitter even positioning itself as an informative social network – but other networks such as Instagram have the same power.

Even before the pandemic took hold, we were talking about “infoxication”, or an excess of information in people’s minds. Today that information is vital, uniting us with the outside world. Applications like WhatsApp, Skype and Zoom, among others, afford us something approaching normality: allowing us to work from home, attend meetings and classes, and share moments of togetherness.

We have rediscovered that we can buy online effectively, that we have a voice on social networks and that we can express concerns that may be echoed in the media – in other words, that communication will never be the same. Post-pandemic communication will differ radically from our previous preconceptions, and particularly in digital and media communications.

None of us are exempt from delusion given the number of announcements, from around the world, of the discovery of a Covid-19 vaccine, or the possibility that homemade recipes help to boost our body’s natural defenses. Our mind is a rollercoaster of emotions, fuelled by the information we receive; we become excited, angry, happy and terrified in the time it takes for us to scroll through a feed.

This excess of information which, for the most part, is not true, becomes dangerous when the person consuming it acts accordingly. For example, if I believe that a vaccine has been all but found, I will not take care to shield myself or others from contagion, and if I believe that I am immune, I become exposed and others become exposed to me.

In times of crisis, people invariably turn to sources that they trust. This may be a health authority or a specialist publication. However, we are no longer talking about mere information, but rather a word which is used so much by those of us who practice Public Relations: credibility. People listen to those who inspire trust in them, and this fact cannot be manipulated.

An alarm was raised by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, who urged caution regarding restrictions imposed by governments on the media and journalists. She pointed out that “Some states have used the outbreak of the new coronavirus as a pretext to restrict information and stifle criticism”, noting that the free flow of information during the current health crisis is of vital importance in the fight against Covid-19. The UN also issued a report highlighting its concern over the seemingly infinite “Fake News” that has arisen around the pandemic.

Companies are not exempt from the change in communications with their consumers established during the pandemic, taking care of their reliable channels of information distribution, exercising responsibility in their messaging and showing their human side, today more than ever.

Brands must demonstrate their commitment to society, acting quickly and empathetically. Communication is the tool for reaching customers, to whom they must send a message of awareness regarding the current situation. And just as the means of consumption have changed, rapidly increasing the online sales curve, brands must understand and position themselves in this context. This can only be done through effective communication, or else their very reputation is at risk.