Analysis of User Engagement of Official Pages of Municipal Government Heads in the Social Network "VKontakte"

Abstract

The study analyzes the engagement of users of the accounts of heads of five municipalities of the Sverdlovsk region in the social network «VKontakte». This phenomenon reflects the level of interaction, trust and activity of the audience of the official pages of city leaders, helping to assess the success of using online platforms as a tool for social digital dialogue.Analysis of the accounts of heads of municipalities showed that an effective communication strategy requires a combination of official information with a personalized approach. Excessive formalization and the lack of direct dialogue in the page's news feed reduce the level of engagement, while active interaction with subscribers, including posting responses to comments and publishing personal stories, helps to increase the trust and activity of the audience. At the same time, an excess of information without proper response or artificial stimulation of engagement negatively affects the overall effectiveness of the information policy in social media.The predominance of positive content in the accounts of city mayors creates the so-called «information bubble», limiting access to full and diverse information on city issues. This circumstance contributes to a decrease in user activity and their willingness to participate in the discussion of current problems. To increase engagement, it is recommended to post materials focused on current city topics, their discussion and proposed solutions.In addition, the heterogeneity of engagement that was identified during the study may be associated with the level of competition for attention, the education of the audience and the digital literacy of the population. In large cities such as Yekaterinburg, such realism and the level of awareness of citizens reduce their reaction to the published content.To increase engagement, it is necessary to consider the specifics of the local user audience, develop communication strategies considering the algorithms of the social network «VKontakte», not only promote relevant content, but also form an active digital local community.