SOCIAL MEDIA PORTRAYAL OF THE IMAGE, PROGRAMME AND DEVELOPMENT OF IMO STATE GOVERNMENT

This study examined social media portrayal of the image and programme of Imo State government. In line with the subject matter, two research objectives, two research questions and two hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. Survey research design was adopted by the researcher and questionnaire was used as the primary instrument of data collection. The data collected were presented in tables and analyzed using simple percentage. The findings revealed that there is significant contribution of facebook on the image and programme of Imo State government and there is significant contribution of whatsapp on the image and programme of Imo State government. The study concludes that if Imo State must achieve sustainable development and effective positive image if the people using social media evaluates the government and see the government as positive. Based on the findings, it was recommended that The Imo State government should employ professionally trained and qualified public relations practitioners and use them as media officers in the executive organ of government and ministry of information and communication so that they can play positive role in managing the image of the government.