Published Paper Details:

Social media is crucial for governments to improve public communication, deliver services, and manage crises efficiently. These platforms enable rapid engagement with a broad audience, encourage trust, address inquiries, and monitor public sentiment. Government use of social media underscores the need for public institutions to align with client needs, foster trust, adhere to legal requirements, and create a secure online community. Presently, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) stands as one of the national departments with an existing guideline governing the implementation of social media management within the Department. This study focused on assessing the current state of the implementation of DSWD Administrative Order No. 16, Series of 2021. Employing a quantitative descriptive research design and utilizing survey questionnaires, interviews, and document analysis, the researcher assessed the perceptions of DSWD Region III's social media team and their clientele. Engaging these two distinct groups was crucial in this study to ensure that the existing guidelines focus on citizen-centric operations. In particular, this study described and evaluated the Department's implementation in terms of social media accounts, social media account management, content management, and crisis management. Furthermore, this research aimed to identify if a significant difference exists in the perceptions of these two distinct groups through a statistical technique. This helped the researcher identify existing challenges and propose measures to improve the Department's existing social media guidelines. The study found that while the DSWD Region III's social media team strictly adheres to the comprehensive guidelines outlined in this Administrative Order to the best of their capacity and resources, there is a significant difference in the perception between them and the clientele in the areas of social media account management and content management. These areas particularly cover the concerns of only one social media account in the entire region, lack of updated contact information on social accounts, deficiency in content inclusivity, especially for persons with disabilities, and the existence of DSWD Region III "fake" accounts. In summary, the Administrative Order has successfully directed the daily operations of the DSWD Region III social media team, benefiting a wide range of clients in the region. Nevertheless, it is imperative for the Department to reevaluate specific guidelines outlined in the AO to address the current challenges of the clientele. Likewise, challenges raised by the Region III social media team warrant attention from the Central Office to ensure the Department maintains optimal public service through social media.