The role of social media in building strong institutions through citizens engagement in times of crisis

Citizens’ engagement is one of the pillars of a democratic society. Through the years we have witnessed how citizens’ participation evolved from small villages to the rest of the world through the power of information and communication technologies (ICTs). This paper aimed to examine the role of social media in building strong institutions through citizen engagement. Using the Social Media on the Citizen's Engagement Model, it analyzed the role of social media in building strong institutions. It also provided a platform for assessing how social media promotes good governance principles such as transparency, accountability, participation, and equality especially in times of crisis like pandemic. It is discovered that social media is a powerful tool that can help build strong institutions by facilitating a mechanism that promotes good governance principles through citizen engagement especially in times of crisis. Building strong institutions is possible if the government manages to mobilize and engage citizens and other stakeholders into action, social media in one way or another provides that platform.