The Union Foundation observes and analyzes the activities of Saarland politicians and political institutions on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter every month with the Social Media Briefing Politics for Citizens.
“The many reactions to our Social Media Briefings Politics, which first appeared in January, were consistently positive. It showed us that citizens have a great need for information about the activities of political actors on Facebook, Instagram and Co. ”, says JR Hans-Georg Warken, Chairman of the Union Foundation.
For the first time, the Facebook activities of the federal states were also considered in the briefing. The Saarland (@ saarland.de) achieved a position among the top 3 in terms of the number of fans. The role of the prime ministers on the state governments’ Facebook pages also varies. In Rhineland-Palatinate (@rheinlandpfalz) Prime Minister Malu Dreyer took 54.32% of all postings in February, Tobias Hans, however, 22.7%.
13 of 52 municipalities are active on Instagram
With over 19,000 fans, the state capital Saarbrücken (@ saarbruecken.de) is the most successful Saarland municipality on Instagram, followed by the district town of Merzig (@kreisstadt_merzig) with 3,200 fans. Saarbrücken and Merzig use the network, which focuses on photos and video contributions, for example for hands-on activities in order to actively involve their fans in the design of the channel. As a result, both channels achieve a high interaction and reaction rate.
Twitter is an important communication channel for top politicians
Twitter is the main communication channel for top politicians. Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (@HeikoMaas) achieved high reach with almost half a million followers on the network. Economics minister Peter Altmaier (@peteraltmaier – almost 300,000 followers) also uses Twitter for his communication, while he does not post any content on Facebook.
#Thigh-off politician
The mayor of Illingen, Dr. Armin König (@ armin.konig.35). He was able to gain 197 new fans on Facebook. Political topics he discussed achieve a high reach on Facebook.
#Starting municipality
Tholey (@GemeindeTholey) is the start-up commune in January. She was able to gain a lot of fans and achieve a high reach on Facebook with creative campaigns.
#Winner
Alwin Theobald, member of the state parliament (@ alwin.theobald), recorded the greatest percentage increase in Facebook fans in February.
The Union Foundation’s social media briefing appears monthly and is free of charge on the website www.unionstiftung.de/briefing retrievable.
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