Using Social Media to Inform and Engage Urban Dwellers in La Paz, Mexico

Abstract

Engaging residents in local affairs continues to be a challenge for cities around the world. Under a call for more open government, many cities have adopted web-based strategies, including social media, to inform, serve, and engage residents. Understanding the performance of social media to support transparent and participatory government through communication and engagement with citizens, especially by relatively early adopters in urbanized areas of developing countries, can inform theory, as well as practice. This article contains an analysis of social media communication for one government agency. The data are posts from the first 18 months of activity on a Facebook profile created and maintained by the municipal water agency of La Paz, Mexico. Consistent with previous work, the Facebook profile reflected relatively low usage, a propensity toward one-way provision of information by government, and limited interaction. However, by analyzing the content of each post and all interactions, the authors found the Facebook profile spurred citizen engagement in a collaborative effort mitigate a community problem.