Social Media and the Strategy of Crisis Communication in COVID-19 Pandemic: a Case Study of Komi Republic (Russia)

摘要

In the article the authors analyze the practice of using social media by the executive authorities of the Komi Republic to communicate with the local population during the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in Russia in spring 2020. The authors highlight the mistakes in communication activity of the Head of the Komi Republic in March 2020 which became an indicator of the fragility of the power structure in the region. Besides, there is the characteristic of a qualitatively different approach to informing the population introduced by the new Acting Head of the Komi Republic since April 2020.