Official pages of Russian city administrations on social networks: analysis of audience activity and engagement (2022-2023)

Roslyakova Marina Valentinovna PhD in History Educator, Department of Management Theory, Ivanovo Branch of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration 153002, Russia, Ivanovo, Pereulok Posadsky 8 strateg.Obl2014@yandex.ru Other publications by this author

Introduction

The involvement of citizens in the discussion and adoption of socially important decisions is considered as an urgent direction in the public administration system in Russia ^[1] and most countries of the world ^[2]. Modern societies are characterized by diversity and complexity, different groups and interests have influence, as a result, political and administrative power is fragmented, and flexibility and willingness to cooperate are required to solve dynamic social problems ^[3]. Along with the spread of the network model of public administration ^{[4, P.113]}, which includes partnerships between the state and society, digital technologies and platform solutions are being introduced into the practical activities of government authorities, and a "digital transformation of public administration" is taking place. There is a "co-evolution of digital service and social network aspects of the functioning of government digital platforms" ^[5], a combination and mutual influence of technical and social aspects of digitalization. In Russia, both trends of public administration are combined in the system of state–owned websites - the official pages of authorities at various levels on social networks.

International studies show that users view social media as a relevant mechanism for raising awareness of political or social issues, drawing the attention of officials to these issues, and influencing policy decisions in the country (Pew Research Center, December, 2022). The Russian population did not participate in the survey, but citizens regularly use social networks for communication, the average Russian spends 4.5 hours a day on the Internet, 47% of the time is spent on social media (Mediascope, 2024), which creates conditions for the introduction of social networks as a tool for involving citizens in public administration. The importance of direct interaction between the government and citizens was emphasized at a meeting of the State Council for the Development of Local Self-Government: "... modern technologies built in digital make it possible to quickly respond to the everyday problems of residents, respond to their initiatives, to their appeals, respond appropriately, and therefore solve the problems that people face more effectively and faster. in everyday life" (January 30, 2020).

Literature review

The issues of citizens' involvement in solving territorial problems are analyzed within the framework of the concepts of civil society and local self-government, which explain social development from the perspective of achieving coherence between the population, the state and business ^[6]. In research, "engagement" is defined through "participation", by listing the forms of citizen participation in solving socially significant issues. Thus, V.V. Vagin notes the unique Russian experience of citizen engagement, which includes a variety of practices: proactive budgeting, rating voting, collaborative design, and others ^[7]. Among the forms of population involvement are territorial public self-government; public hearings; citizens' meetings; conferences of residents on local issues; public opinion polls; citizens' appeals to local governments and others ^[8]. In turn, the concept of "participation" is revealed through "engagement". For example, L. I. Nikovskaya and I. A. Skalaban define public participation as "the process of involving and maintaining interaction between subjects of public relations, carrying out purposeful or reactive actions to jointly achieve a significant result" ^{[9, P. 42]}. It is obvious that the concepts of "engagement" and "participation" are interrelated and complement each other. Engagement is considered as a process that encourages participation and interaction, participation is considered as concrete active actions that lead to the joint achievement of a meaningful result. In this case, engagement means a state reflecting the level of participation and interest in the process, "implies accessibility, presence and willingness to interact" ^[10].

Additional opportunities for involving citizens in interaction with authorities are created by technology, "... participation is increasingly becoming networked due to the introduction of new technologies into the Internet environment ..." ^[9]. Digital technologies are distinguished by accessibility, interactivity, mass character, efficiency, and the ability to provide two-way communication in a non-hierarchical and relatively safe environment ^[11]. Social networks simplify the process of interaction and have the potential to mobilize diverse segments of society, which allows for increased civic engagement ^[12], therefore, networks are "recognized as key tools for achieving more inclusive citizen engagement" ^[13]. The positive impact on engagement is associated ^[14], firstly, with a high level of social media penetration, which is a prerequisite for more inclusive participation, secondly, social networks promote social integration, the combination of online and offline methods expands the circle of participants, thirdly, they expand the rights and opportunities of citizens Despite the fact that authorities play a leading role in communication, finally, the effectiveness of participation is enhanced by transparency and accessibility of solutions.

The above explains the interest in studying the role of social networks in public administration. The "legal and organizational foundations of ensuring electronic participation of citizens in solving public affairs through social networks" are being studied ^[15]. The results of monitoring social networks of the public sector are presented, in particular, in the work of V.V. Zotov, A.V. Gubanov ^[16], personal accounts of heads of regions and official pages of governments (administrations) of subjects of the Central Federal District were considered as key network resources. The authors claim that a "well-developed pool of government accounts" was fully formed on social networks, but the official pages of local governments were not taken into account. The article by S.B. Abramov, K.R. Putimtseva, A.O. Kondrashov ^[17] examines individual social groups as participants in public communications, and concludes that young people do not consider official accounts as the main tool for digital interaction with government. The work of A.A. Merzlyakov, K.E. Huseynov, and A.S. Smirnov analyzed social networks in terms of the effectiveness of communication channels and the accessibility of communication platforms for discussing socially significant issues ^[18]. L.A. Vasilenko, V.V. Zotov, and S.A. Zakharova investigated the potential of social networks for citizen participation in government affairs and noted the low the effectiveness of network interaction between authorities and the public ^[19].

It should be noted that the involvement of citizens in interaction with authorities in social networks occurs in stages, as I. Mergel ^[20] suggests using a three-level model.: 1) transparency, the official page contains information that citizens view; 2) participation, two-way interaction between citizens and page owners; 3) collaboration, interactive interaction, joint content creation and service design. The alternatives have similar characteristics: 1) dissemination of information (there is an account and posts have been published), social networks are considered as channels for communicating official information to ensure the widest possible audience coverage, communication is unidirectional; 2) interaction (users reacted, shared or commented on the publication on the page), communication becomes interactive during the interaction phase, authorities initiate information and comments from users; 3) transaction (full-fledged cooperation and joint creation of plans, content) [21. In general, the research results confirm the positive impact of social media on engagement, but statements about the "revolutionary" impact of social media on engagement should be avoided [22].

The goal is to analyze audience engagement on the official pages of the administrations of major cities of the Russian Federation in 2022-2023.

Methods

The official pages (state-owned websites) of the administrations of Russian cities were considered as an object. The cities were selected according to two criteria: 1) administrative – the center (capital) of the subject; 2) quantitative – they belong to large cities in terms of population (250-500 thousand people, Rosstat). The comparison was carried out for two periods – 01.01-31.12.2022 and 01.01-31.12.2023. The obligation to have an official page began on December 1, 2022, so the state of the pages was compared during the period of initiative (free) and mandatory presence. In total, 30 official pages of administrations on the VKontakte social network have been studied. The choice of the network is due to the fact that VKontakte is one of two social networks that are defined as mandatory for creating official pages (Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated 09/02/2022 No. 2523–r). It is important that 74% of the country's population are registered on VKontakte (Mediascope, 2024). The state-owned websites were selected through links on official websites, all pages have the confirmed status of a "State Organization" through the Gosuslugi portal. The work used theoretical methods (analysis, comparison, generalization), data processing was carried out manually, as well as using specialized monitoring and analytics services for social networks. We emphasize that despite the widespread use of social networks, measurement and analysis methods for social networks require improvement, and there is no unified approach or metrics. The indicators used in the work quantify user engagement and activity, but they have limitations and simplify the processes taking place on social media pages.

Results and discussion

In Russia, social networks are officially defined as channels of interaction between the population and government authorities. All 30 official communities that were considered were created before December 1, 2022, some have a long period of stable presence on the social network, for example, Kostroma and Bryansk since 2012, Lipetsk since 2013, the majority (16 communities) were created in 2017-2018, when the trend towards maximum openness of government was relevant, two publica – Yakutsk and Vladikavkaz were registered in 2021 (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Number of official pages by year of creation in the surveyed cities (units)

The number of subscribers on the official page shows the audience available for interaction. In all communities, the number of subscribers increased in 2023 compared to 2022 (Figure 2).

Figure 2. Number of subscribers of the official pages in the surveyed cities (people)

The increase in the number of subscribers is shown in Table 1. Note that the indicator does not depend on the duration of the community's existence, so the largest increase (more than 80%) was given by the communities of Astrakhan (established in 2014) and Yakutsk (established in 2021). The total number of subscribers to state-owned publications increased from 504318 people (2022) to 634,000 people (2023).

Table 1

Increase in the number of subscribers in 2022-2023 (%)

The number of subscribers allows you to assess the overall popularity and relevance of the page, but you should take into account, firstly, the total population of the city, and secondly, the lack of territorial restrictions for subscribers. Figure 3 shows the number of subscribers relative to the urban population in percentage terms. Arkhangelsk, Kurgan, and Lipetsk have the highest coverage, while Yakutsk and Grozny have the lowest coverage. Based on the goals and objectives of the municipality's official website, the coverage should be maximum. At the same time, the assumption that a high percentage of subscribers indicates the active participation of citizens in the life of the city requires confirmation. Let's agree that citizens' participation in the socio-political life of the country (region) or in making managerial decisions should not be imitated by increasing statistical indicators ^[18].

Figure 3. The number of subscribers to the official pages of city administrations (% of the total population of the municipality)

Another important indicator is "publication activity", which reflects the number and frequency of posts posted on the community page over a certain period of time. To classify a community as active, the owner must publish posts regularly. A VKontakte post is a text, photo, video, infographic, flashcards, polls, contests, promotions, and other materials published in the community that allow you to convey information to a larger number of community subscribers. The total number of posts has increased significantly, which indicates that government publications are actively creating content in 2023 (Figure 4).

Figure 4. Total number of published posts on official pages in the surveyed cities (units)

In 2023, the number of posts on all official pages of administrations increased. For example, Kostroma increased the number of posts by 396%, Astrakhan by 286%, Bryansk by 276%. The decrease in activity is less pronounced, for example, Arkhangelsk (-20.6%), Lipetsk (-4.8%), Tambov (4.65%), Ivanovo (-4.08).

When comparing indicators, it is necessary to take into account the starting point. Thus, the Kostroma state Republic, which showed the largest increase, published only 211 posts in 2022, and in 2023 increased its activity to 1,047 posts. While Arkhangelsk, despite the decline, published 6,153 posts in 2023 (2022 – 7,750 posts), which is significantly higher than Kostroma. These data highlight the diversity in the level of change. It is likely that the Kostroma public sought to increase its presence due to the new commitments, and the Arkhangelsk page focused on the quality rather than the number of posts. This means that an analysis is required to understand the development strategy of each page. For a correct comparison, it is necessary to take into account the activity of the public in dynamics.

The activity of subscribers on the official page is manifested in the actions (reactions) that they demonstrate, responding to the impact, the impression they received in real life or reacting to a specific post. Engagement rates on social media are measured by the number of likes, reposts, and comments. Let's define these concepts. A comment is the most expensive way for a subscriber to participate when they leave a message on the page in response to a post. The message may contain arguments, explanations, or critical remarks on the topic of the published post. In some cases, it includes personal impressions, opinions, or ratings that are not directly related to the topic of the post. A repost is an action in which a user shares a post posted on a page on their own page or in a group, while maintaining the original content and authorship. Finally, a like is an action that reflects the user's emotional reaction to a post, expressed in a visual form offered in the community (an icon or button). Among the considered ways of responding, a like is the least expensive for a subscriber. To compare the pages, the general and average indicators of the number of reactions (comments, likes, and reposts) are used.

The total number of reactions in communities increased in 2023 (2935258) compared to 2022 (2787427). The total number of reposts decreased, the number of likes and comments increased (Figure 5).

Figure 5. Total number of reactions on the official pages in the surveyed cities (units)

The average number of reactions to the post in 2022 is 23.6 in 2023 – 41.2. The increase in reactions, in our opinion, is caused by an increase in the number of subscribers and the transition to systematic work with publications after 2022.

In 2023, the number of comments on the pages of Astrakhan (205%), Bryansk (300%), Vladikavkaz (193.2%), Grozny (201%), Kostroma (189%), Yakutsk (776.6%) increased significantly, decreased in Belgorod (-35.6%), Kaluga (-20.87%), Murmansk (-27%), Smolensk (-29.82%). In 2023, Cheboksary (-47%), Belgorod (-40%), Kursk (-34.7%), Tula (-32%), Ivanovo (-29.6%) were less likely to share messages, and Vladikavkaz (535%), Yakutsk (155%), and Grozny (119%) were more active. The number of likes increased in all public sites (Figure 6). Despite the general trend, there is a wide variety of absolute values of the number of likes, so in 2023 the spread ranges from 4 (Yakutsk) to 116 (Smolensk) likes per post. The percentage increase varies from 6% to 350%, but it should be borne in mind that in Kaliningrad an increase of 6% meant that in 2022 there were 31 likes, in 2023 – 33 likes, and in Vladikavkaz an increase of 350% means that there were 2 likes, in 2023 it became 9.

Figure 6. Number of likes per post on official pages (units)

The absolute number of comments has increased on all pages, with the exception of Murmansk and Yoshkar-Ola. The average number of comments increased from 3.8 to 6.6 (Table 2).

Table 2

Number of comments per post on official pages (units)

The number of reposts per post in 2023 increased slightly or remained the same, table 3.

Table 3

Reposts per post on official pages (units)

One of the important indicators is engagement (ER pages). Engagement is the average number of reactions to content made by one average subscriber to a page, which shows the percentage of subscribers who respond to the page per day. The engagement indicator takes into account all the main types of interaction, taking into account the number of subscribers and publications (posts). This makes the metric applicable for comparing different pages, regardless of their size and frequency of publications. The graph (Figure 7) shows the engagement indicators for 2022-2023. The key conclusion is that in 2023 there is a general decrease in engagement. In all public sites, engagement was lower in 2023 compared to 2022, with the exception of Astrakhan, Bryansk, Vladikavkaz, Vologda, Grozny, Kostroma, and Orel.

Figure 7. Engagement (ER) on official pages (%)

It should be noted that the publications that showed an increase in engagement in 2023 had low indicators in 2022, for example, Grozny – 0.36%; Kostroma – 0.22%, therefore, publications and an increase in the audience significantly improved the indicators. Some public sites, such as Simferopol, had high engagement rates in 2022 (5.3%), so despite a significant decrease in this indicator compared to other public sites, engagement remains high (3.7% in 2023). A similar situation is observed in Tambov (2022 – 4.2%, 2023 – 3.3%), Arkhangelsk (2022 – 5.4%, 2023 – 3.7%). A comparison of the average engagement across all publications (2022 – 1.72%; 2023 – 1.43%) reflects the general trend. The opinion is confirmed that the growth in the number of subscribers and the number of publications "may be accompanied by the addition of a disinterested audience and an information overload of readers, which leads to a decrease in engagement" ^[17]. Attracting subscribers statistically increases their number, but some remain passive and do not participate in the interaction. Poor communication affects the decrease in engagement, in the event that "officials are practically not involved in discussions with the public about emerging problems," and responses to requests "are presented as a formality dictated by instructions on maintaining social networks from above" ^[18].

There is an "illusion of participation" when subscribers have the opportunity to like, share information, and comment, but there is no dialogue or understanding of how the expressed opinion will be taken into account. Based on the three-stage model, pages primarily perform an informative function, attract attention to socially significant issues, but there is no deep meaningful involvement in solving problems ^[19]. The general conclusion is that active subscriber engagement does not always lead to engagement, but often reduces it. An analysis of the reasons for the decline in engagement for each specific government document is required, the comparison results emphasize the need for constant monitoring and analysis of engagement, two years is not enough.

Conclusion

The work examined the activity and involvement of subscribers of the official pages (state-owned websites) of the administrations of republican (regional, regional) centers of 30 subjects of the Russian Federation. All communities were created before December 1, 2022, most in 2017-2018, i.e. they had sufficient experience of independent presence on the network, and for a long time they built their own strategies for interacting with subscribers. Despite this, the activity of official pages and users has changed since the introduction of the legislative obligation for public authorities to be present on social networks compared to the period before the introduction of this obligation. To compare activity and engagement on the official pages, several metrics were used – indicators of subscriber engagement, the number of subscribers and posts. The metrics used have certain limitations because they do not cover all aspects of the subject under study and simplify the processes taking place on the pages.

The number of subscribers increased in 2023 in all the communities under consideration, regardless of the duration of their existence. We assume that the expansion of the audience is connected precisely with the discussion and then the adoption of the "law on state publications". In 2023, the total number of published posts increased significantly. At the same time, there is a variety in the level of changes in the publication activity of public sites, some show an increase of hundreds of percent, while others remain at the same level or slightly decrease their activity. Detailed analysis of specific pages is required to identify the reasons for the changes. Nevertheless, in general, the public continues to actively publish content.

The activity of subscribers on the official pages was manifested in different directions. The total number of reactions (likes, comments, reposts) in communities increased in 2023, mainly due to an increase in likes and comments. The overall increase in reactions was caused by an increase in the number of subscribers during the period under review, while the percentage of subscribers who actively reacted to the proposed content decreased. The engagement rate (ER pages) decreased in all public sites in 2023, with the exception of Astrakhan, Bryansk, Vladikavkaz, Vologda, Grozny, Kostroma, and Orel. At the same time, the publications that showed an increase in engagement had a low indicator in 2022. The average engagement on the pages decreased from 1.73% in 2022 to 1.43% in 2023. Presumably, attracting subscribers has increased the number of users who are not involved in the interaction.

We emphasize that "digital tools do not create new forms of participation." Existing forms of public engagement in governance can be adapted and implemented through or on the basis of social media. Social networks contribute to "improving the effectiveness of participation processes by expanding the reach of the initiative, improving information collection, or facilitating the implementation of processes in government structures" ^{[2, p.153]}, but they do not automatically eliminate people's passivity.

For publics that have reached a high level of engagement, a crisis of trust is possible if subscribers do not have the opportunity to control how reactions (feedback) affect decisions made by authorities. Therefore, a transparent mechanism is needed that 1) will integrate subscribers' reactions into achieving a meaningful result together (with the authorities), and 2) in the case of objective restrictions on the implementation of citizens' requests and proposals, a procedure should be developed to minimize the negative effect. Improving performance through formal engagement and artificially increasing reactions on social media can also negatively affect subscriber trust.

Thus, it is necessary to determine the strategy of government communication in social networks, focus primarily on prompt and accessible official information to citizens, or seek to expand participation and full-fledged cooperation, avoiding imitation of participation. For a holistic view of the degree of citizen involvement in management using social networks, it is necessary to conduct qualitative research, study the published content, comments and other characteristics, it is important to regularly update and accumulate data to develop sound conclusions and recommendations.