Social Media Management in Local Government: A Case Study of Bandung City Government's Instagram and Twitter (X), Indonesia

Abstract

Effective social media management by the local government plays a central role in generating and shaping public engagement. Bandung City Government's just setup their Instagram and Twitter (X) accounts in year 2022, which consider having low engagement. This study aims to analyse reasons for low public engagement in the local government social media. Specifically, this study focuses on the Bandung City Government which has experienced using other social media for more than 10 years. The approach used was a case study and quantitative content analysis on Instagram and Twitter (X) accounts during the 2022 period. The results showed that the social media management of the Bandung City Government has not been effective in creating high-quality engagement. The team has not been able to optimize planning activities to create creative content. According to the needs of citizens, interaction and response to public comments are still inconsistent. In addition, evaluation activities have not been optimally used to improve management strategy improvements. The results of this study have important implications for social media management practices in local governments. The weaknesses of social media management found in this study can be used as lessons learned by other local governments to increase engagement with the public. Keywords: Local government, social media, social media management, public engagement, Twitter (X).