What social media will bring you as mayor
Posted: Sat Dec 21, 2024 3:26 am
LinkedIn (business) vs. Facebook (the people)
So although many mayors are active on social media, the question is whether they are achieving the right goal among residents. If you look at the graph below, you can see what percentage of Dutch people are on which social media channels (age 16 - 65). Here you can see that Facebook is far above LinkedIn (28%) with 73%. As a mayor, aren't you missing a huge opportunity to reach your own residents via the platform they use the most?
Why use Facebook and Instagram as a mayor?
A question (or objection) that may now occur to you: if your municipality is already active on these channels, why would you as mayor also take on your own role in this? Shouldn't you be one voice to the outside world and adopt the voice of the municipality?
We know from experience that residents do not see and experience this in this way. They want to feel connected to the figurehead of their municipality and they want to feel involved and be able to identify on a personal level. When mayors themselves use social media to connect with their residents (so not for business use), they show themselves as a person within their function. And this creates an enormous sense of connectedness and involvement.
Mayor Eberhard van der Laan
Just look at what happened to mayor Eberhard van der Laan (1951 – 2017). When it became known that he was seriously ill and shared this with his supporters, he became much more of a belgium telegram data person within his mayoralty. His residents sympathized with him and they felt connected to him as a person and as mayor.
Fortunately, it is not the case that you first have to share suffering to achieve this involvement and connection with your residents. But it does show that it is important to show yourself as a mayor, both within your function and as a person. Social media can help you enormously with this:
By being present and active on social media, you can build trust among residents.
You appeal to the residents' world of experience.
Residents are better informed about what you do as mayor.
They immediately get a glimpse into the life of their mayor.
You can engage in conversation with residents in an accessible and personal manner.
Social media are accessible and easy to use. Communication lines are shorter, messages can be sent faster and residents are reached faster.
You can reach different target groups: public sector, media and residents.
Another example from the Municipality of Amsterdam, now that Femke Halsema is the new mayor. Not all Amsterdammers are happy with her at the moment and terms like 'cold', 'businesslike' and 'too politically oriented' are associated with her. But is this image correct? Have we not just been given a one-sided image of her in recent years.
So although many mayors are active on social media, the question is whether they are achieving the right goal among residents. If you look at the graph below, you can see what percentage of Dutch people are on which social media channels (age 16 - 65). Here you can see that Facebook is far above LinkedIn (28%) with 73%. As a mayor, aren't you missing a huge opportunity to reach your own residents via the platform they use the most?
Why use Facebook and Instagram as a mayor?
A question (or objection) that may now occur to you: if your municipality is already active on these channels, why would you as mayor also take on your own role in this? Shouldn't you be one voice to the outside world and adopt the voice of the municipality?
We know from experience that residents do not see and experience this in this way. They want to feel connected to the figurehead of their municipality and they want to feel involved and be able to identify on a personal level. When mayors themselves use social media to connect with their residents (so not for business use), they show themselves as a person within their function. And this creates an enormous sense of connectedness and involvement.
Mayor Eberhard van der Laan
Just look at what happened to mayor Eberhard van der Laan (1951 – 2017). When it became known that he was seriously ill and shared this with his supporters, he became much more of a belgium telegram data person within his mayoralty. His residents sympathized with him and they felt connected to him as a person and as mayor.
Fortunately, it is not the case that you first have to share suffering to achieve this involvement and connection with your residents. But it does show that it is important to show yourself as a mayor, both within your function and as a person. Social media can help you enormously with this:
By being present and active on social media, you can build trust among residents.
You appeal to the residents' world of experience.
Residents are better informed about what you do as mayor.
They immediately get a glimpse into the life of their mayor.
You can engage in conversation with residents in an accessible and personal manner.
Social media are accessible and easy to use. Communication lines are shorter, messages can be sent faster and residents are reached faster.
You can reach different target groups: public sector, media and residents.
Another example from the Municipality of Amsterdam, now that Femke Halsema is the new mayor. Not all Amsterdammers are happy with her at the moment and terms like 'cold', 'businesslike' and 'too politically oriented' are associated with her. But is this image correct? Have we not just been given a one-sided image of her in recent years.