Cebo, Luvuyo Moses2024-07-092024-07-092021-05-01https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14519/425Social media is an effective engine for communication in operating business functions for all organisations. The purpose of this study was to determine the level of awareness and information sharing that online communication affords the Department of Basic Education. It aimed to determine the use of social media platforms by the Department of Basic Education employees, the public and educators to communicate issues pertaining to education. The Department of Education makes use of Basic Education via different social media platforms, a few to mention are Facebook, Twitter, Thutong and email for communication purposes. These are available on the education website www.education.gov.za The researcher used a quantitative approach to collect empirical data from the Department of Basic Education in South Africa through a survey questionnaire that was forwarded to the Department of Education employees. Data analysis was done with the use of the Statistical Package for Statistic Systems program. The results are revealed with use of pie charts and bar graphs. The descriptive and relationship analyses are shown in this study and the recommendations and conclusions are tabled. Findings in this study show that some social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube exist in the Department of Basic Education, however, the officials are blocked from using these social media platforms. The officials cite that permission is granted to senior officials, starting from level 13; this refers to the Director, Chief Director, the Deputy Director-General, Director-General, the Deputy Minister and Minister. These are the officials that use social media platforms to communicate with the public. The Department of Basic Education officials consist of specialists that are meant to communicate with learners irrespective of their background or wherever the learners reside, especially with today’s presence of innovative technology as a rapid means of communication. Learners are supposed to consult with specialists through various communication channels.enCC0 1.0 Universalhttp://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/Social mediaBasic educationSocial media usageThesis