Can I read COVID-19 as Reflected in University President Bulk Email on EtoBox?

COVID-19 as Reflected in University President Bulk Email by Kong, Ruoyan; Zhang, Charles Chuankai; Kang, Jin; Zhu, Haiyi; Konstan, Joseph A. is a scholarly article available to read on EtoBox.

What is COVID-19 as Reflected in University President Bulk Email about?

E-mail ``Messages From the President'' to university students, staff, and faculty have long been used to keep campus communities aware of the latest policies, events, and news. But during the COVID-19 pandemic, as universities quickly closed facilities, sent students home, and canceled travel, these messages took on even greater importance. We report on a content analysis of bulk emails from different universities' presidents to their students and employees before and in three stages of the pandemic. We find that these messages change as universities move towards and through closure. During the pandemic, 1) presidential bulk emails tend to be more informative, positive, clearer than before; 2) they tend to use more personal and collective language; 3) university presidents tend to mention more local political leaders and fewer other university leaders. Our results can inform research on digital crisis communication and may be useful for researchers interested in automatically identifying crisis situations from communication streams.

Author

Kong, Ruoyan; Zhang, Charles Chuankai; Kang, Jin; Zhu, Haiyi; Konstan, Joseph A.

Published

2024

Language

EN