Reflections on UK local government challenges in the use of Twitter as a communications channel

Over the previous five years local government agencies have begun to use social media networks (such as Twitter) as mechanisms to promote engagement with local citizens. However, as identified in previous research there can be substantial challenges in relation to the use of these spaces to encourage bi-directional conversation and engagement. This paper provides a critical perspective on the challenges presented in the results of a focused research project on governmental communication through Twitter over a three month period from October to December 2011 and a one month period in August 2013. The research presented in this paper, contributes to the growing number of research papers related to the effective use of social media platforms in governmental, organisational and other community spaces. It is clear that as service provision develops, a growing maturity of usage is enabling councils to further develop their understanding of what is good practice in communicating through social media channels.