G. A. Savchuk, G. A. Bannykh, S. V. Kulpin, R. M. Kurashov. Communication of Local Governments and the Population in Social Media: Regions of the Ural Federal District

https://doi.org/10.15507/2413-1407.129.032.202404.653-672

УДК / UDC 342.5:316.472

Abstract

Introduction. The relevance of the topic is determined by the need for a practical solution to the problem of communication assessment of local government bodies with the population in social media. The lack of an effective methodology for such an assessment and its results increases the importance of this work. The purpose of the article is to analyse the success of communication of the executive authorities of the municipal entities of the Ural Federal District with the population on the official pages of the social network “VKontakte” and to offer the success index.

Materials and Methods. The authors used the database of official accounts of municipal, municipal district and municipal area administrations (n = 203) and heads of corresponding municipalities (n = 198) of the regions of the Urals Federal District in the social network “VKontakte”. The data were collected using the parsing tool Cerebro 3.0; the data were analyzed using both standard indicators of social network analysis and those proposed by the authors. The index method was used to summarize the data. This approach made it possible to systematize and aggregate heterogeneous information in order to compare the objects of analysis.

Results. The authors have developed and tested on the materials of the regions of the Urals Federal District a methodology for calculating the index of success of communication between local governments and the population in the social network “VKontakte”. It has also been demonstrated that higher publication activity does not unequivocally lead to more successful communication outcomes. It is revealed that in most cases, municipalities with small populations are the most successful communicators. It is noted that subscriber engagement is higher in the accounts of heads of municipalities compared to the accounts of municipal administrations.

Discussion and Conclusion. The authors’ proposed methodology for assessing the success of local government communications helps to identify the most successful practices, differentiate municipalities and regions. The index allows to go from evaluation of information openness to analysis of content published and recommendations on how to what content is needed to be more successful in communicating with the public. The results of the study will be useful for state and municipal employees involved in communication with the public.

Keywords: government openness, communication of authorities with the population, success of communication, public communities in social media, index of communication success

Conflict of interest. The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Funding. The research was supported by the Russian Science Foundation grant No. 24-28-01153 (https://rscf.ru/project/24-28-01153/).

For citation: Savchuk G.A., Bannykh G.A., Kulpin S.V., Kurashov R.M. Communication of Local Go­vernments and the Population in Social Media: Regions of the Ural Federal District. Russian Journal of Regional Studies. 2024;32(4):653–672. https://doi.org/10.15507/2413-1407.129.032.202404.653-672

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About the authors:

Galina A. Savchuk, Cand.Sci (Sociol.), Associate Professor, Head of the Chair of Integrated Marketing Communications and Branding, Ural Federal University named after the First President of Russia B. N. Yeltsin (19 Mira St., Yekaterinburg 620062, Russian Federation), ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2980-8970, Scopus ID: 57213002265, SPIN-code: 4639-1293, Galina.Savchuk@urfu.ru

Galina A. Bannykh, Cand.Sci (Sociol.), Associate Professor, Associate Professor of the Chair of Theory, Methodology and Legal Support of State and Municipal Administration, Ural Federal University named after the First President of Russia B. N. Yeltsin (19 Mira St., Yekaterinburg 620062, Russian Federation), ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8175-591X, Researcher ID: T-8511-2017, Scopus ID: 55825650400, SPIN-code: 1685-7896, G.A.Bannykh@urfu.ru

Sergey V. Kulpin, Cand.Sci (Econ.), Associate Professor, Associate Professor of the Chair of Integrated Marketing Communications and Branding, Ural Federal University named after the First President of Russia B. N. Yeltsin (19 Mira St., Yekaterinburg 620062, Russian Federation), ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3998-9341, Researcher ID: R-6859-2016, Scopus ID: 57216868677, SPIN-code: 1852-0951, s.v.kulpin@urfu.ru

Ruslan M. Kurashov, Assistant of the Chair of Integrated Marketing Communications and Branding, Ural Federal University named after the First President of Russia B. N. Yeltsin (19 Mira St., Yekaterinburg 620062, Russian Federation), ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-6205-1813, SPIN-code: 1151-2061, ruslan.kurashov@urfu.ru

Contribution of the authors:

G. A. Savchuk – research concept; study design; methodology; data analysis.

G. A. Bannykh – research concept; review of research on the research topic.

S. V. Kulpin – research idea; research concept; analysis of statistical data.

R. M. Kurashov – research concept; collection and analysis of empirical material; description of results.

Availability of data and materials. The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the authors on reasonable request.

The authors have read and approved the final manuscript.

Submitted 30.07.2024; revised 04.09.2024; accepted 26.09.2024.