Lessons from Norwegian Emergency Authorities’ Use of Social Media

Social media has evolved along with expectations that organizations, including public authorities, would create more dialogue with citizens. This policy brief argues for, first, the importance for public authorities to listen to, follow up on and use social media users’ responses and viewpoints to facilitate dialogue and organizational learning, and, second, the need to more systematically reflect on the causes, meaning, and consequences of the informal tone that some public authorities have come to use in social media.