As I noted in a publication of almost a decade ago, municipalities have responded with a wide variety of initiatives. Some of these have been relatively modest, such as the use of municipal websites to disseminate information in a very timely fashion and the creation of a municipal “hotline” or complaints line, (now most commonly found as a 311 number). Others have been more creative, such as the provision of online budget information in an interactive format that allows citizens to rank their spending priorities, offer alternative suggestions, and even see how the choices they make affect the budget and property taxes.
According to a recent survey from Redbrick Communications, over two-thirds of Ontario municipalities are using social media and that use has increased by 11 times over the past five years. Facebook remains the favourite platform and is used by 91% of municipalities, but 81% are also now using Twitter and 31% make use of YouTube. It is noteworthy that in the past year 85% of the growth in use of social media took place in municipalities under 15,000.Further evidence of the prominence of small municipalities with respect to social media can be found in the top five municipal governments based on most liked per capita and most followed per capita. Pelee and Terrace Bay are on both lists, each with a population under 2,000 and by far the largest municipality from the two lists is Tweed, boasting 6000 people.
At a time when citizens are increasingly demanding that their governments at all levels be accessible and responsive, the increased use of social media by municipalities is an encouraging trend.