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A Mixed-Method Approach to Evaluating Citizen Engagement on Government Social-Media Pages

Author

Listed:
  • Vincent Mabillard

    (Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management, Université libre de Bruxelles, Belgium)

  • Raphaël Zumofen

    (School of Health, HES-SO Valais-Wallis, Switzerland / Swiss Graduate School of Public Administration (IDHEAP), University of Lausanne, Switzerland)

Abstract

In their communication on social media, most organizations consider engagement as a core objective. In the public sector, a vast majority of contributions have studied citizen engagement through metrics such as post reactions, comments, and shares. In this article, we prefer another approach in seeking to understand both the perceptions and practices of engagement management and evaluation from the municipalities’ point of view. We combine qualitative and quantitative data stemming mostly from communication managers in Nordic countries. Qualitative insights come from interviews conducted with these managers ( N = 19) in Spring and Summer of 2024. Quantitative data come from a survey distributed to the communication managers of all Nordic municipalities with over 10,000 inhabitants ( N = 525) in early 2025. Our findings show high heterogeneity in monitoring and evaluation of engagement; a focus on the metrics provided by social-media platforms, as well as content; and the importance of the quality of state–citizen exchanges. These findings call for a refined, qualitative approach to engagement on government social-media pages that goes beyond the metrics that are almost always used as a starting point in previous research.

Suggested Citation

  • Vincent Mabillard & Raphaël Zumofen, 2025. "A Mixed-Method Approach to Evaluating Citizen Engagement on Government Social-Media Pages," Media and Communication, Cogitatio Press, vol. 13.
    • Handle: RePEc:cog:meanco:v13:y:2025:a:10354
    DOI: 10.17645/mac.10354
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Åshild Skjegstad Lockert & Hilde Bjørnå & Kristian H. Haugen & Heidi Houlberg Salomonsen, 2019. "Reputation reform strategies in local government: investigating Denmark and Norway," Local Government Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(4), pages 504-525, July.
    2. Deborah Agostino & Michela Arnaboldi, 2016. "A Measurement Framework for Assessing the Contribution of Social Media to Public Engagement: An empirical analysis on Facebook," Public Management Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(9), pages 1289-1307, October.
    3. Marco Contri & Silvia Fissi & Elena Gori, 2025. "Using social media for supporting engagement in the public sector: a systematic literature review," Local Government Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(1), pages 1-23, January.
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