Norwegian party leaders’ communication on social media platforms during Covid-19 lockdowns: A longitudinal comparison of Facebook and Instagram content

Social media platforms became key channels for political leaders’ crisis communication during the Covid-19 pandemic. In this article, I examine how Norwegian party leaders used Facebook and Instagram across three national lockdowns in Norway. A dataset of 2,397 posts from national party leaders was coded using a four-part framework for analysing government communication on social media platforms, capturing information provision, input-seeking, politics, and symbolic presentation. Post-level linear probability models estimate how the probability of each communication type varied by platform and lockdown period, controlling for government or opposition status and Covid-19 relatedness. Facebook accounts for a larger share of posts and carries a broader crisis-communication repertoire, particularly for political and input-seeking communication. The use of Instagram for crisis communication became more selective over time, with several communication types declining during the third lockdown. Contrary to participatory expectations, input-seeking decreased as the crisis persisted. Opposition leaders relied more on information provision across platforms, consistent with visibility and accountability work during prolonged crisis governance.