Social media and local government in England: who is doing what?

This paper presents research on the use of social media by English local authorities. It presents quantitative data on the extent to which unitary authorities in England use social networking services such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to communicate with interested parties. A more qualitative analysis is carried out on a sample of the bodies in terms of the types of information they are pushing out through these services. The research presented in this paper shows a considerable range in the usage of social media by these bodies and raises interesting questions about why this might be the case. The paper provides some tentative answers to these questions and offers practical advice to local authorities wanting to better understand this area and how it might help them in their relations with the communities they serve.