Communication with constituents is essential to running a government. But sometimes elected officials can find themselves in a tough spot if they’re not aware of how certain actions on social media are perceived or if those actions cause more harm than good. Here are best practices for elected officials on social media:

Seeing that people are engaging with your posts is one way of knowing that they are getting important information through their social networks and if there is room for improvement depending on the feedback they provide.

But how can governments know whether the public is engaging with the content they create?

Scan your local Facebook or Instagram feeds, and you’ll see a plethora of posts with obvious spelling, punctuation, or content errors. If the post is originating from a friend or family member the problems might be forgivable, but when a business or government agency creates a post that is full of mistakes, it is downright unprofessional. Read through our suggestions on what to check before you hit that publish button.