Facebook as a Dialogic Strategic Tool for European Local Governments

Abstract

The main aim of this study is to analyze theextent to which local governments in the EU applydialogic strategies in their Facebook profi lesin order to establish and enhance relations withsociety, and then to examine the impact of certainfactors on the implementation of these dialogicstrategies. A descriptive analysis is madeof the implementation of the dialogic communicationtheory in relation to the use of Facebook,and this is followed by an explanatory analysisof factors leading local governments to apply dialogicprinciples. These analyses show that thesituation is open to improvement, because localgovernments are mostly unaware of the benefi tsoffered by the use of dialogic principles when establishingonline relationships with stakeholders,and greater awareness would enable them to enhancesuch relationships.