The good,the bad and the ugly: Three faces of social media usage by local governments |
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| Authors: | Patrícia Silva António F Tavares Tiago Silva Mariana Lameiras |
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| Institution: | 1. Research Unit in Governance, Competitiveness and Public Policies (GOVCOPP), Department of Social, Political and Territorial Sciences, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal;2. Operating Unit on Policy-Driven Electronic Governance United Nations University (UNU-EGOV), Political Science Research Center, Campus de Couros, Rua Vila Flor 166, 4810-445 Guimarães, Portugal;3. Political Science Research Center, School of Economics and Management, University of Minho, Campus de Gualtar, 4710 - 057 Braga, Portugal;4. United Nations University Operating Unit on Policy-Driven Electronic Governance (UNU-EGOV); Communication & Society Research Centre (CSRC), University of Minho, Campus de Couros, Rua Vila Flor 166, 4810-445 Guimarães, Portugal;5. University of Minho, Campus de Gualtar, 4710 - 057 Braga, Portugal;6. Social Science Institute, University of Lisbon (ICS-UL), Av. Professor Aníbal de Bettencourt, 9, 1600-189 Lisbon, Portugal |
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| Abstract: | This article explores the determinants of local governments' use of social networking sites. It does so by analysing the relative impact of institutional, political and social determinants, while controlling for the impact of mayors' traits and social characteristics of municipalities on local governments levels of activity on Facebook. Empirically, this article presents a within-case analysis of Portuguese municipalities' activity on social media, aiming to shed light on the strategic use of social media by local governments. A coherent picture associated with politically pro-active local governments emerges from the results: higher levels of social media activity appear in municipalities with more competitive local elections and higher commitment to transparency. Moreover, findings suggest that local governments tend to be concerned with the low levels of voter turnout, potentially resorting to social media as a powerful tool to increase civic engagement and (offline) political participation. Levels of Facebook activity are significantly higher in larger and wealthier municipalities. The results indicate that Facebook official pages of municipalities are part of a larger arsenal of tools to promote political engagement and activity levels signal a propensity to involve citizens pro-actively. |
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| Keywords: | Corresponding author at: Research Unit in Governance Competitiveness and Public Policies (GOVCOPP) Department of Social Political and Territorial Sciences University of Aveiro 3810-193 Aveiro Portugal |
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