När makten blir din kompis - en studie i polisens kommunikation på Facebook
(2013) SKOK01 20131Department of Strategic Communication
- Abstract
- Today, many organizations, both within the private and the public sector, have developed a presence in different social media channels. It is of most importance to perpetually scrutinize entities because of their position of power in the society. This study examines how the Swedish Police use Facebook as a strategic tool to communicate with citizens, but also what the potential advantages and disadvantages could be with building a strong public sector brand. We have carried out a qualitative study, with empirical data gathered through observations and content analysis from three different Facebook pages, and their national social media guidelines. Our theoretical framework is based on theories regarding communications, corporate branding,... (More)
- Today, many organizations, both within the private and the public sector, have developed a presence in different social media channels. It is of most importance to perpetually scrutinize entities because of their position of power in the society. This study examines how the Swedish Police use Facebook as a strategic tool to communicate with citizens, but also what the potential advantages and disadvantages could be with building a strong public sector brand. We have carried out a qualitative study, with empirical data gathered through observations and content analysis from three different Facebook pages, and their national social media guidelines. Our theoretical framework is based on theories regarding communications, corporate branding, legitimacy and transparency in the public sector. Our analysis shows that the Swedish Police, intentionally or unintentionally, use strategies from corporate branding, including brand-as-a-person and storytelling. Furthermore, we have found that too much transparency and informal communication can lead to citizens distrusting the Swedish Police’s competence and therefore undermine their legitimacy. Ergo, we stress the importance of well-defined social media strategies for a public sector organization to distinguish the real purpose of their social media presence. (Less)
- Abstract (Swedish)
- Idag har många organisationer, både inom privat och offentlig sektor, etablerat en närvaro på olika sociala medieplattformar. Det är av högsta relevans att granska aktörer i samhället som innehar en stor maktposition. Denna studie undersöker hur den svenska polisen använder Facebook som ett strategiskt verktyg för att kommunicera med medborgare, men också vilka möjligheter och faror som finns kopplade till byggandet av ett starkt varumärke inom offentlig sektor. Vi har genomfört en kvalitativ studie, med insamlat empiriskt material från observationer och innehållsanalyser av tre olika Facebook-sidor, samt polisen nationella handledningsdokument för sociala medier. Det teoretiska ramverket baseras på teorier om kommunikation,... (More)
- Idag har många organisationer, både inom privat och offentlig sektor, etablerat en närvaro på olika sociala medieplattformar. Det är av högsta relevans att granska aktörer i samhället som innehar en stor maktposition. Denna studie undersöker hur den svenska polisen använder Facebook som ett strategiskt verktyg för att kommunicera med medborgare, men också vilka möjligheter och faror som finns kopplade till byggandet av ett starkt varumärke inom offentlig sektor. Vi har genomfört en kvalitativ studie, med insamlat empiriskt material från observationer och innehållsanalyser av tre olika Facebook-sidor, samt polisen nationella handledningsdokument för sociala medier. Det teoretiska ramverket baseras på teorier om kommunikation, varumärkesbyggande, legitimitet och transparens inom offentlig sektor. Vår analys visar att den svenska polisen, medvetet eller omedvetet, använder strategier inom varumärkesbyggande, så som brand-as-aperson och storytelling. Vidare visar analysen att för mycket transparens och informell kommunikation kan leda till att medborgare tappar tron på den svenska polisens kompetens och därigenom undermineras deras legitimitet. Vi vill därför poängtera vikten av väldefinierade sociala mediestrategier för organisationer inom offentlig sektor, för att kunna urskilja deras egentliga syfte med en närvaro i sociala medier. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/3809566
- author
- Arledal, Linn LU and Karlsson, Linnea LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- SKOK01 20131
- year
- 2013
- type
- M2 - Bachelor Degree
- subject
- keywords
- Communication management, public sector, New Public Management, corporate branding, storytelling, brand-as-a-person, transparency, legitimacy, Facebook
- language
- Swedish
- id
- 3809566
- date added to LUP
- 2013-06-13 11:21:36
- date last changed
- 2014-09-04 08:36:23
@misc{3809566,
abstract = {{Today, many organizations, both within the private and the public sector, have developed a presence in different social media channels. It is of most importance to perpetually scrutinize entities because of their position of power in the society. This study examines how the Swedish Police use Facebook as a strategic tool to communicate with citizens, but also what the potential advantages and disadvantages could be with building a strong public sector brand. We have carried out a qualitative study, with empirical data gathered through observations and content analysis from three different Facebook pages, and their national social media guidelines. Our theoretical framework is based on theories regarding communications, corporate branding, legitimacy and transparency in the public sector. Our analysis shows that the Swedish Police, intentionally or unintentionally, use strategies from corporate branding, including brand-as-a-person and storytelling. Furthermore, we have found that too much transparency and informal communication can lead to citizens distrusting the Swedish Police’s competence and therefore undermine their legitimacy. Ergo, we stress the importance of well-defined social media strategies for a public sector organization to distinguish the real purpose of their social media presence.}},
author = {{Arledal, Linn and Karlsson, Linnea}},
language = {{swe}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{När makten blir din kompis - en studie i polisens kommunikation på Facebook}},
year = {{2013}},
}