How Nova Scotia has used social media to nudge people to follow COVID-19 restrictions
CBC
While then premier Stephen McNeil implored people to "Stay the blazes home" during the first COVID-19 lockdown last year, Nova Scotia's social media messaging has consistently taken a gentler, often humorous approach to encourage people to follow public health restrictions.
Whether it's two amorous Nova Scotians looking to "take things to the next level" by getting tested for COVID-19 or on "the worst Noël, the experts did say, limit our social circles and stay six feet away," examples are abundant.
"In a heavy situation, it's a way to break the ice with people," said David Denny, the managing director of marketing for Communications Nova Scotia.
He said the province's social media channels have seen exponential growth since the pandemic began and record engagement on its posts.
For example, the province's number of Facebook followers has tripled to almost 110,000 since the pandemic began, while its Instagram followers have increased almost tenfold to more than 36,000.
Denny attributes that in part to the videos that private companies have produced for the province to share on its social media channels.
Besides these videos, the province has paid for promoted posts, mainly on platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. These posts have included everything from geo-targeted promotion of a regional popup testing site to targeting a message to a specific demographic.
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