The Role of Instagram and Facebook in Promoting BISP Awareness in Twin Cities

Abstract

Although the BISP program greatly reduces poverty, people in the twin cities of Pakistan’s major cities do not yet know enough about the program through Instagram and Facebook. The research looks into how BISP uses social media on Facebook and Instagram to communicate with low-income households in Islamabad and Rawalpindi. A stratified sampling approach was employed with enhanced sample diversity considerations to improve generalizability.  Quantitative surveys were used, and each of the 60 respondents was from either city to explore their use of social media, the amount of BISP content they saw, and how much they engaged with it. More than four out of five (83.3%) respondents are Facebook users, but more than half never find BISP content on social media; 70% prefer visual posts, and most (56.7%) still learn about the program by word of mouth. Because the strategies in use are not effective, BISP should use extra visual content, build a habit of posting regularly, clarify whether someone is eligible to use BISP, and get more involved with communities to close the information gap in major cities.