5 Great Examples of Government Agencies Using Social Media During COVID-19

2020 has undoubtedly been a tough year, with government social media use having higher stakes than ever before. Yet, despite all the challenges, most government organizations continue to do great work on social media—leveraging social platforms to not only provide crucial information and help citizens deal with current issues, but also shine a spotlight on actions and events that are worthy of celebration. 

As with other social media platforms, like Facebook and Twitter, organizations often need to archive their official Instagram accounts. In the public sector, this is usually to satisfy FOIA and Open Records recordkeeping requirements, while in the private sector, it is generally in preparation for a regulatory audit or legal matter. One recent example of a lawsuit related to a company’s use of Instagram is that of Teami, which was accused by the FTC of misrepresenting the health benefits of its tea.

If you’re a public information officer (PIO) or government social media manager, you’re undoubtedly very familiar with angry comments on your official social media accounts. Whenever members of the public are angry or frustrated, an official government social media account is the first place they’ll head to make their displeasure known. 

As both government organizations and private-sector companies deal with the realities of a global pandemic—specifically the need to get crucial work done with a distributed, remote workforce—team collaboration tools are proving to be incredibly valuable. 

The impact that COVID-19 has had is unprecedented. Of course, there is the impact of the disease itself, but it is also forcing organizations to continue to operate while a large portion of its employees work from home. 

Back in 2014, the New York Police Department launched a social media initiative that at first glance seemed like a great way to improve community engagement. The law enforcement agency asked members of the public to tweet photos of themselves with NYPD officers using the hashtag #myNYPD. 

With many schools boasting large and active communities, it’s unsurprising that social media has become a  popular tool in education. Social media platforms offer an engaging way to share information and connect students, parents, and teachers. A Facebook page or Twitter account makes it easy to inform everyone that school has been closed because of snow, remind parents of important upcoming events, or simply celebrate the latest team win. 

There are plenty of reasons why government organizations should be on social media. But there’s no denying that this technology is a bit of a double-edged sword; social media success is never guaranteed. At the lower end of the catastrophe scale, information officers spend a lot of time and effort on social media campaigns that end up having little engagement or real ROI. At the top-end of the scale, an agency has a very public pratfall and is forced to manage its reputation in real-time as a slew of angry comments rolls in.

Social media managers in the public sector have a lot to do. There are countless posts to create and schedule, accounts to moderate, comments and inquiries to respond to, campaigns to plan, and social ads to manage. And that’s focusing only on the social media side of things—many social media professionals have responsibilities that extend to managing website content, coordinating community initiatives with other agencies, and even writing press releases.

In the film, Jurassic Park, the character Ian Malcolm says: “Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should.” He was talking about bringing dinosaurs back to life, of course, but social media managers should keep this quote in mind when it comes to selecting platforms for their particular organization.