A content analysis of social media usage by local governments in New Zealand

Abstract

This research investigated if New Zealand’s local governments were exploiting social media platforms for public engagement. Its primary purposes were: 1) to provide an overview of the social media usage; 2) to understand the preferences and influences of content format on engagement; 3) to assess the opportunities presented to citizens to engage and collaborate with policy-making processes. A content analysis was run under the Coronavirus scenario, and collected quantitative and qualitative data from seven social networks, assessing 1,101 posts.

Findings revealed an average of three platforms per Council. Nevertheless, Facebook was the one that received more attention from public bodies. This fact resulted in low engagement rates across platforms and a considerable number of outdated social network pages. There was little concern about content planning, with publications being frequently cross-posted across platforms, resulting in duplicated messages. Content formats were limited to the traditional ones, such as Image, Video and Text. Although Image was the most used type, Live was the best format for promoting public participation. Regarding public participation, findings were in alignment with literature, confirming that local governments’ primary objective on social media was to inform rather than promoting a real dialogue.

The research concluded that there is a potential to improve social media management to promote civic engagement. Recommendations suggest that local governments should create a social media strategy, focus on crucial platforms, apply content marketing techniques, and explore new content formats