Matviishyn, Ye., Pylypenko, V., & Bunyk, M.
(2024).
Comparison of the activity of regional authorities of Ukraine on social media.
Democratic Governance,
17(1),
32-43.
https://doi.org/10.23939/dg2024.32
This article examines the presence of regional military (state) administrations and regional councils in social media. It substantiates the importance of developing communication between these regional authorities and the public, as well as other stakeholders, through social media. The analysis of authorities’ activity on social media allows for assessing their ability to adapt to changes associated with the development of modern communication technologies. The purpose of this article is to develop criteria for evaluating the activity of regional authorities on social media and to trial the proposed methodology. It has been found that Facebook is the most commonly used social network by regional authorities, with 24 regional military (state) administrations and 21 regional councils actively using it. To compare their activity on social media, the population size of each region in Ukraine was taken into account. The ratings of regional military (state) administrations and regional councils were calculated based on the ratio of the audience of their Facebook pages and the population in the region. The differences in the representation of regional authorities across various regions of Ukraine were identified. The best results are achieved mainly by western and some frontline authorities (Kherson Oblast, Mykolaiv Oblast). Overall, regional military (state) administrations tend to use social media more actively than regional councils, with the exception of three regions. This is evidenced by the larger number of followers on their Facebook pages, which is the most popular network among the population of Ukraine. Overall, regional military (state) administrations are more active than regional councils in monitoring the Facebook pages of other organizations. Familiarization with the results of a comparative analysis can help the heads of authorities evaluate the performance of their communication units in comparison to other regional authorities
benchmarking; competencies; communications; local self-government; public administration; regional development; e-governance
Received 16.02.2024, Revised 25.04.2024, Accepted 18.06.2024
Retrieved from Volume 17, No. 1, 2024
https://doi.org/10.23939/dg2024.32
Pages 32-43
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