Negative social media sentiment from state and local officials could be bad for local government finances

Social media sentiment has become a powerful force across most aspects of society, and state and local government is no exception. In new research, Justin Marlowe tracks the social media output of state and local finance officials from 2014 to 2020, finding that their sentiment became more negative following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. He writes that these negative sentiments could lead to real consequences for local government finances.