When the press office goes social: the role of social media policies for media relations strategies in public sector organizations

In the framework of the process of social media adoption by public sector organizations, this paper aims at investigating the use of social media policies in order to effectively communicate and relate with citizens, journalists and other strategic publics. In particular this pilot study analyzes the use and contents of social media policies published by official Facebook social media accounts managed by press offices in Italian municipalities. Based on a qualitative content analysis, this empirical study shows a scarce use of social media policies, a prevalence of legal concerns rather than engaging ones, and a limited attention in managing media relations via social media with journalists and other digital influencers. Limitations and further steps of research are discussed.