SOCIAL MEDIA AS A SUSTAINABLE TOOL FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN COMMUNICATION WITH ENGAGED PUBLIC
SOCIAL MEDIA AS A SUSTAINABLE TOOL FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN COMMUNICATION WITH ENGAGED PUBLIC

Summary/Abstract: Offline media such as posters, message boards, town hall newspaper or council meeting have been traditionally used to inform citizens about council strategies, decisions, announcements, acts, events or staff search. However, with the increased availability of internet connection and proliferation of social media accounts more sustainable and extensible way of communication emerges. While having web pages is the obligation by the law for cities, social media, although voluntary, offer new possibilities of two-way communication with residents. Unfortunately, not many academic researchers are devoted to explain the phenomenon and cover development in the domain. Thus, this longitudinal study provides general overview of the sustainability and development in utilisation of social network Facebook by local governments and administration. It also suggests improvements for better citizen engagement on Facebook based on post type strategy. Data mining process has been used to gather data from Facebook profiles of 126 municipalities in 2018 and 170 in 2019 in Moravian-Silesian region. While year on year comparison provide insights into development in the area, engagement analysis shows types of posts which are popular among municipalities Facebook fans. Results shows growing interest in Facebook among local governments as well as the citizens themselves. It also guides future posting strategies for municipality representatives.

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