Social Media Communication and Public Trust in Government: Evidence from Residents of Edo State’s Selected Local Government Areas

Abstract

As digital communication has grown, public trust in government institutions has decreased and it is unclear how the quality of social media communication affects citizens’ trust at the subnational level. This paper therefore compared the effect of social media communication on the trust of government by the citizens of six Local Government Areas (LGA) of Edo State, Nigeria (Oredo, Ovia North-East, Egor, Ikpoba-Okha, Esan West, and Etsako West) in the period 2018 to 2026. Data collection was conducted using a quantitative cross sectional survey design with 406 respondents who were filled out on the Social Media Communication and Public Trust Questionnaire (SMCPTQ) and processed using descriptive statistics and multiple regression and Pearson correlation analysis. The results indicated that the credibility, transparency and timeliness of government communication had a significant influence on public trust, with credibility having the strongest impact, accounting for 54.9% of the variance. The effect of misinformation and political propaganda on trust was found to be negative and significant, and information verification behaviour was found to be positive and significant, with both accounting for 48.2% of the variance. The relationship between citizen’s perception of government accountability and responsiveness was moderately and positively correlated with citizen engagement in government social media platforms. The results highlight the importance of trust in institutions, created through credible and transparent digital communication, which is reinforced by interactive dialogue, whereas misinformation erodes it. The study suggests that the government of Edo State focus on credible and timely communication, setting of digital fact-checking mechanisms, and sustaining citizens’ engagement to bolster their trust.

Keywords: Social media communication, public trust, government accountability, misinformation, citizen engagement, Edo State