Government Social Media Landscape

This is an analysis that synthesizes a survey of seven state governments’ social media: California, Florida, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, and Oregon. Attention was put towards content that was highly interacted with. Full list of screenshots captured here.

Key Themes and examples

Some governments are partnering with local organizations to create and circulate content. When content is created in partnership, it’s shared first on the partner’s account and then re-circulated by the government’s account. There’s leveraging of state and local celebrities and medical professional heroes.

There’s consistency across Twitter and Facebook and in content when it’s in more than one language. When a state organization has a COVID-related banner image and pinned content on Twitter and Facebook they are visually grabbing and simple.

A type of content that is common and highly interacted with is sharing vaccination milestones. Many times, but not always, the message was first shared by a government official’s account, such as the Governor’s, and then circulated by a department.

Governments are elevating BIPOC medical professionals to share their personal and professional voices. Amid disparities, Black doctors are using TikTok and Instagram to foster restorative justice and encourage healthy behaviors such as getting the COVID-19 vaccine.

Some governments are validating that there are vaccine worries and then addressing them. The voice is empathetic and reassuring about the feelings and decisions their residents need to make.

Acknowledging the impact of the pandemic on mental wellness is a common theme and content type and provided an option for support in social media posts.

Encouraging a staycation, a fun way to frame not traveling to support public health is another example that shows care for residents.

Messaging in physical contexts that some residents have fond memories of is powerful and encourages them to look forward to going back to.