A Critical Analysis of Government Communication via X (Twitter)

Abstract

Social media has dramatically impacted all sectors of society, including public communication and governmental relations. Most countries have increasingly incorporated it into their communication strategies. However, there is little research on this subject. This study tackled this gap by analyzing the existing literature and comprehending the objectives, determinant factors, and consequences of social media use by governments. It investigated the practice of such measures on Portuguese governmental communication to understand the low levels of engagement identified through the research. The governmental accounts were subjected to two types of analysis to achieve a practical means of classification. The exploratory analysis of the @govpt account data (18,071) tweets used various methods specific to user-generated content. Fourteen public agencies’ tweets (39,965) underwent the transparency, participation, collaboration, and comfort (TPCC) index computations, developing four factors to calculate the public sector’s digital communication success. The TPCC Index results revealed the lowest development rates, with participation and collaboration being the least developed factors. Only 107 mentions were found across 59,036 tweets, and explicit co-creation terms appeared 303 times. Furthermore, the analyzed accounts did not progress to the deeper stages of connection with governments’ possible exploration n. This research’s main achievements and contributions consist of contemplating the Portuguese case study while proposing and validating the TPCC Index metrics’ modifications for X data analysis.