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Research Report: Comparing public sector organisations’ Facebook Utilisation

Written by Brittany Wolfhagen, 2019

Abstract

Using data gathered from the Murray-Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) and New South Wales (NSW) Police Facebook pages, together with existing research, this report examines the impact of their investment in two-way dialogic communication with publics.

This report identifies a lack of organisational listening by both organisations and the apparent effect of their pre-existing relationships with publics on each organisation’s Facebook experience.

The need to commit to two-way dialogical communication to establish and strengthen relationships with publics is identified.

Introduction

This report aimed to analyse government engagement with publics via social media to determine whether there is a tangible (statistically significant) difference in publics’ responses based on their level of engagement via social media.

Using data gathered from the Murray-Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) and New South Wales (NSW) Police Facebook pages, together with existing research, this report examines their investment in two-way dialogic communication with publics.

It also discusses their use of organisational listening and the impact of relationships/trust on each organisation’s experience with publics on Facebook.

Current context

Direct engagement with publics is underutilised in the Australian government sector, inhibiting its capacity to build and develop relationships. Social media is not fully embraced as an effective communications tool (Perlman, 2012; Australian Government Business, 2018b).

Organisational listening

Macnamara says “measurement and evaluation of the effectiveness of communication involve listening to feedback and response and …contingent on what is learned, responding in a way that takes account of the views of others” (2015, p. 10).

Recognition, acknowledgement and responding are three key elements to organisational listening and according to Macnamara, “[m]ost organisations listen sporadically at best, often poorly, and sometimes not at all” (2015, p. 7).

What organisations say about listening

MDBA

The MDBA’s social media guidelines say that Facebook “…addresses questions and comments” and “[t]o get the best out of social media channels there is a need to provide timely responses” (2017, p. 11).

NSW Police

Facebook is referred to as a vital communication tool which “…allows for a two-way conversation with the community” (Official Use of Social Media Policy and Procedures, 2018, p. 5).

“When criticism is received from the public... advise the author of the option to make a formal complaint...” (New South Wales Police Force, 2018, p. 2).

Research approach

Research questions

How do the organisations use their social media to engage with their publics?
Do they interact and engage with publics who respond to their content? What does this say about their relationship with publics and their communications approach?
What impact does the level of engagement of the organisations with their followers have on follower numbers?

Research methods

Social media observation and data analysis (see attachments 2 and 3).

The number and type of responses that MDBA and NSW Police make to public comments on their Facebook posts were tracked to determine:

rate of reply;
nature of each exchange; and
depth of engagement/dialogic communication between the organisations and their publics.

Data was gathered from:

MDBA’s use of social media between 14 June 2019 to 16 July 2019 (four weeks); and
NSW Police’s use of social media, from 1 March 2019 to 14 March 2019 (two weeks).

NSW Police post to Facebook at a rate 8.4 times greater than MDBA (12 vs 2.75 average posts per week [see attachments 2 and 3]). This meant that a longer sample period was required for the MDBA.

The two weeks chosen for NSW Police were selected to cover the period that two major issues were in the media (see attachment 1). These issues included the probe into an investigating officer on William Tyrell’s disappearance and the airing of a podcast on the mishandling of Belinda Peisley’s cold case (Kidd, 2019; McKeon, et al., 2019).

The MDBA’s month was chosen to cover the fallout from the Four Corners episode aired on 8 July 2019 (Four Corners, 2019).

Key findings and conclusions

NSW Police has a larger number of followers/publics and has a much higher rate of published content compared to the MDBA. This is likely due to it being a much larger organisation, with more staff/capacity than the MDBA. The number of followers could also be attributed to MDBA being a much younger organisation than NSW Police. MDBA was established in 2008, whereas NSW Police was founded in 1862 (MDBA, 2019; NSW Police, 2019).

NSW Police receives more than double the amount of responses from publics on Facebook than the MDBA. This could be due to the higher rate of posts published or the type of content being published – NSW Police content tends to be more newsworthy than the MDBA’s (Mudd, 2014).

Of the comments MDBA does receive, only four percent were positive. This contrasts starkly with responses received by NSW Police, which garnered more than 50 percent positive comments.

Over the period studied, neither NSW Police, nor MDBA responded to any comments or enquiries from publics (see attachments 2 and 3).

MDBA’s Facebook relationship with publics

MDBAs lack of adjustment to negative responses received on social media (they continue to post the same type of material), demonstrates that they are not listening to their publics. MDBA not responding to questions received on social media, contradicts its Social Media Guidelines which requires them to “…address questions and comments” and “provide timely responses” (Murray-Darling Basin Authority, 2017, p. 11).

Relationship management should be employed to stimulate their public’s loyalty and support for the organisation and their work (Johnston & Sheehan, 2014, p. 8; Chia & Synnott, 2011, p. 75 and 124). For a relationship to exist, there needs to be a commitment to open two-way communication (De Bussy, Ewing, & Pitt, 2003).

It is not enough for publics to just have a platform to reply. They need to feel there has been an effort for their words to be understood through the courtesy of response (Husband, 2009; Chia & Synnott, 2011, pp. 16-17). According to Social Exchange theory, “…most people feel obliged to act reciprocally in all sorts of relationships” (Johnston & Zawawi, 2004, p. 67). Meaning that to generate dialogue and build relationships (trust) MDBA needs to respond to public comments on their posts.

A significant actor in the (very different) reception received by MDBA and NSW Police is the former’s lower level of existing public relationships and therefore trust (Johnston & Sheehan, 2014, p. 169; Flew, 2005, p. 75). Trust requires cultivation and ongoing maintenance which should be done both online and offline through communications activities (Johnston & Sheehan, 2014, p. 169). Partnerships with persons of trusted authority (such as scientists) could help build its tangibility and trustworthiness. Currently, all Facebook content relates to water allocations and reports on the progress of the basin plan – ‘dry’ topics that perpetuate a ‘faceless government’ image.

Building relationships using two-way communication to establish trust with publics is key. The MDBA needs to implement a visible ‘architecture of listening’ to increase trust in the organisation (Macnamara, 2015). This is something that social media, when used correctly, can facilitate (Warren, Sulaiman, & Jaafar, 2014).

MDBA regularly meets with external stakeholders and such activity should be showcased on Facebook to create a tangible ‘listening’ presence for the organisation. Demonstrating commitment to interaction with publics through such actions would build trust amongst its publics, which would in turn improve the reactions received.

NSW Police’s Facebook relationship with publics

Scandals/crises reported by the media have a negligible effect on responses the NSW Police receives from their publics on social media. Of the contentious issues identified over the last six months (see attachment 1), only one was mentioned by the NSW Police on social media: the Belinda Peisley case.

The negative public response was contained to only one case‑related post from NSW Police. The negative responses did not carry into following posts (see attachment 1).

Most negative commentary from publics related to posts about roadside breathalysing (attachment 3, post 10) and a cannabis drug bust (attachment 3, post 18). As with the Belinda Peisley post, these negative sentiments did not carry over to the posts following it.

As NSW Police does not engage in dialogic communication, the more positive response received cannot be due to better organisational listening. This could be attributed to NSW Police’s existing tangible (almost anthropomorphic) image. NSW Police is over 157 years old and has a discernible physical presence, which means their use of social media is starting from an established position of public knowledge and evidently trust. This loyalty from existing relationships with publics seems to mean on Facebook (compared to MDBA) NSW Police can ‘do no wrong’.

Viewing the MDBA and NSW Police together

In their study, Macnamara found little evidence of two-way (dialogic) communication (2015). This is replicated in my inquiry. Of the interactions observed, neither MDBA nor NSW Police ever responded to publics, even when a question was raised (see attachments 2 and 3 - highlighted totals).

Currently, both organisations’ approach their relationships with publics in a one-way broadcast (or speaking) model. This echoes Macnamara’s conclusion on organisation’s use of social media, he says the platform is being used primarily to disseminate messages and that “…organisations construct and deploy an architecture of speaking…” (2015, p. 6).

On a positive note, listening and responding is included in the MDBA’s social media guidelines – though it is not in practice. Responding in some way is very important (Purdy & Borisoff, 1997).

NSW Police needs to re-evaluate its social media policy. Currently, there is no requirement to respond to comments on Facebook (other than advising of complaints procedures). Though they note that social media allows for ‘two-way conversation with the community’, they are yet to actually listen and respond.

Listening to publics can contribute to that public’s level of trust in organisations, specifically organisation-public dialogic communication (Yang, Kang, & Cha, 2015). If an organisation demonstrates a commitment to dialogical communication, that has been shown to improve relationships with publics (Kelleher, 2009).

Currently, lower levels of trust in MDBA means its content is not well received, and its lack of engagement in listening and two-way communication likely exacerbates this. Though NSW Police have received a better response than MDBA, the effects of listening would still have a significant beneficial impact.

Conclusion

According to Porumbescu’s Seoul study “…use of public sector social media accounts is positively related to satisfaction and perceptions of public sector trustworthiness” (2016, p. 291). My study demonstrates that this applies only where two-way dialogic communication is present.

I intended to identify statistically significant differences in publics’ responses based on each organisation’s level of engagement via social media. Unfortunately, this could not be achieved as neither party truly engages. As engagement requires two-way dialogical interaction, neither the MDBA nor the NSW Police fulfil this criterion.

Crawford said “listening is not a common metaphor for online activity” (2009, p. 526) and the findings of this report unfortunately verify the validity of those words.

For the MDBA, ignoring its public’s response on Facebook is ill-advised as it currently lacks existing public relationships and the goodwill they provide. Refusing to participate in dialogic communication also prevents them from building those relationships with (or gain loyalty from) their publics. NSW Police should work on interacting more with publics on Facebook to maintain and strengthen its existing relationships with publics.

By employing these strategies and improving their relationships with publics, both organisations use of social media could be a lot more effective.

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