The Egyptian Ministry of Interior's strategies for dealing with incidents circulating on social media platforms and users' interactions with them - an analytical study of its official Facebook page

Document Type : Original Article

Author

El Azhar university faculty of mass communication

Abstract

The study aimed to monitor the strategies adopted by the Egyptian Ministry of Interior in addressing issues and incidents circulating on social media platforms, present them on its official Facebook page, and uncover patterns of engagement with them. The study is descriptive, relying on a media survey of posts on the Egyptian Ministry of Interior's official Facebook page, which totaled 227 posts, from March 21, 2025, to May 5, 2025. Data collection methods focused on "content analysis" and "non-standardized interviews." The study reached the following results, the most prominent of which are:
1- The Arab Science Journalism Network ranked first among the most prominent digital platforms and initiatives concerned with science journalism, seeking to advance Arab science journalism, with 70%.
2- “The decline in the role of scientific departments in the Arab press” came in first place among the most prominent challenges that could face the future of scientific journalism in light of the trend towards digital transformation and the growth of health and environmental crises, with a weighted arithmetic mean (2, 37).
3- The vision of “the necessity of field engagement for scientific journalists with researchers in research centers, and the ability to conduct a direct dialogue with them” came in first place, among the most prominent future visions of what the specifications of the scientific journalist editor should be to keep pace with the trend towards digital transformation and the growth of health and environmental crises, with a weighted arithmetic mean (2, 37).
4- The vision “Scientific content should include proposed, feasible solutions to health and environmental crises by experts and scientists specializing in these fields” came in first place, among the most prominent future visions of what the writing standards for scientific journalism should be to keep pace with the digital transformation and the growth of health and environmental crises, with a weighted mean of (2.27).
5- The vision of “relying on interactive maps, graphics, and visual data to help the public understand the scientific journalistic story” came in first place, among the most prominent future visions for developing Arab scientific journalism to keep pace with the trend toward digital transformation and the growth of health and environmental crises, with a mean of (1, 97).
6- The reformist (optimistic) scenario came in first place, among the most prominent scenarios expected for the future of Arab scientific journalism to keep pace with the trend towards digital transformation and the growth of health and environmental crises, with a mean of (1, 43).
 
- Increased interest in the incidents and issues circulating on social media platforms, which was reflected in the frequency of their publication on the Ministry's Facebook page, with the publication of "five or more incidents" daily occurring in the governorates of Cairo and Giza, followed by Alexandria and the governorates of Lower Egypt.
-The types of incidents discussed on the Ministry's page varied, most notably: traffic issues: "irresponsible driving and stunts," followed by "fights, assaults, and injuries," and then "rumors: including false performance and reports."
- The Ministry of Interior's strategies for its social media pages, especially Facebook, varied. These include: first, general strategies for managing the page and presenting content, namely: (one-way communication, digital transformation and media richness, formal language, and legal terminology). Second, strategies for dealing with issues circulating on social media platforms, which include tactics such as: "intimidation (firmness and deterrence), transparency and self-promotion, denial (blame-shifting), and verification and clarification (countering rumors and raising awareness)."
- User comments on the Ministry's posts increased, with the highest number of comments (100 or more) dominating, with the exception of two posts, all of which were subject to review and blocking. The nature of these comments varied. The most common comments were "support and endorsement", while the fewest comments included "criticism and accusation".

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References

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