ABSTRACT

Social media, particularly its more social aspects, can be challenging for organizations. In this article local governments’ communication on Facebook is used as a case study and analyzed through a mixed methods approach, utilizing distant and close readings of 50,000 Facebook posts from 23 Swedish local governments. The aim is to investigate patterns in both content and style with a particular focus on social interaction, drawing on a neo-institutional approach and the idea that communication can play an explicit social function. The findings suggest that local governments used Facebook mainly to inform citizens, whereas dialogue and discussion were directed elsewhere. When local governments translate social media into practice, it seems to be done in line with established channels and ways of communicating. These findings underline the need to understand local governments’ use of social media in relation to concepts such as openness and control, where attempts are made to control an uncontrollable online environment. Another key finding is that local governments seemed to post when there was very little or nothing to say; they posted about the mundane, trivial, and ordinary. These findings indicate an adaptation of the language and discourse of social media which contrasts with bureaucratic language.

摘要

社交媒体，尤其是其更具社交性的方面，对组织而言可能具有挑战性。在这篇文章中，地方政府在 Facebook 上的交流被用作案例研究，并通过混合方法分析，利用来自 23 个瑞典地方政府的 50,000 条 Facebook 帖子的远程和近距离阅读。目的是研究内容和风格的模式，特别关注社会互动，借鉴新制度方法和沟通可以发挥明确社会功能的想法。调查结果表明，地方政府主要使用 Facebook 来通知公民，而对话和讨论则用于其他地方。当地方政府将社交媒体转化为实践时，似乎是按照既定的渠道和沟通方式进行的。这些发现强调有必要了解地方政府对社交媒体的使用与开放和控制等概念的关系，在这些概念中，试图控制无法控制的在线环境。另一个重要发现是，地方政府似乎在几乎没有什么可说的时候发帖；他们发布了关于平凡、琐碎和普通的内容。这些发现表明社交媒体的语言和话语的适应性与官僚语言形成鲜明对比。