Strategic Construction and Consequent Interactions of Kenya’s State House Tweets Between 2013 and 2022
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Date
2024-10
Authors
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Publisher
Daystar University, School of Communication
Abstract
Globally, Twitter (now known as X) has become a prominent platform for socio-political discussions between presidencies and citizens. However, there is limited research focusing on African presidencies. This study examined the strategic construction of tweets from Kenya’s Statehouse account during Uhuru Kenyatta's presidency and the subsequent interactions they generated among the audience. The research aimed to understand the strategies used, how the messages were perceived, and how they were interacted with to provide insights into how Twitter can be leveraged for effective presidential communication. The primary objective was to reveal how the Kenyatta presidency utilised Twitter as a strategic mass communication tool. The research sought to identify the strategies used for crafting Twitter messages, the types of messages posted, audience interactions, thematic patterns in the tweets, and the challenges and successes encountered on Twitter. A qualitative content analysis was conducted, targeting the complete set of 9,214 tweets from the Kenyatta presidency. Purposive sampling included two in-depth interviews and all tweets shared by the Statehouse Twitter handle between 2013 and 2022. After conducting a thematic data analysis, findings were presented using a hybridised grounded theory consisting of several theoretical frameworks: theory of reasoned action, social aspects theory, para-social interaction theory, uses and gratifications theory, deliberative democracy theory, and public sphere theory. This approach helped me understand the research problem beyond the limitations of each theory. The study contributes to knowledge by offering a Global South perspective on how presidencies use Twitter for communication. It found that the Kenyatta presidency strategically constructed and disseminated messages on Twitter to educate, report performance, promote unity, explain complex issues, and engage the public. The platform proved effective despite challenges like misinformation and Twitter's 140-character limit. To improve effectiveness, the study recommends that presidencies develop communication and engagement strategies, use high-quality multimedia, respond quickly to feedback, and create performance monitoring frameworks. For future research, the study suggests examining Twitter's impact on public perception and trust in presidencies through longitudinal studies focusing on policy impacts, sustained engagement, and citizen compliance to determine whether an active Twitter presence correlates with effective governance. Further research should explore contextual factors affecting user interactions on Twitter by analysing how demographics like age, gender, and location influence communication and content sharing. Researchers are also encouraged to adopt grounded theory approaches in Twitter studies. From this research, presidencies and other elite institutions can understand Twitter’s unique role in information dissemination and dialogue mobilization, highlighting its significance for governance.
Description
Doctor of Philosophy in Communication
Keywords
Twitter
Citation
Oketch, D. D. (2024). Strategic Construction and Consequent Interactions of Kenya’s State House Tweets Between 2013 and 2022. Daystar University, School of Communication