Parliaments use social media mainly as a reporting tool rather than for public engagement

The UK Parliament and its counterparts across the globe are increasingly connecting with citizens through social media. Cristina Leston-Bandeira gives an overview of a new study into the Twitter and Facebook strategies of national parliaments. She finds that in the UK, 80% of Parliament’s social media postings tend to be used to report parliamentary activity rather than to carry out genuine engagement, although the Scottish Parliament is much more deliberative.