Government: How to regain the trust of citizens [4 social tips]
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Since the well-known C-word came into the picture, the public’s trust in the government has fallen considerably. Now that the corona crisis seems to be coming to an end, you can slowly start to wonder how you can regain that trust. The use of social media is a great way to start. How do you do that? We would like to explain it to you in this article using four useful tips!
There you are as a municipality
A ministry or other government organization with your good behavior. You are active on social media, you fax lists are where your residents are, you interact and monitor what is going on. Step by step you get closer to your target group and book the first successes.
And then there was the C-word. At first there was room for solidarity (‘we’ll tackle this together’), then came unrest (‘how long will this last?’) and then it degenerated into distrust (‘do they actually know what they’re doing?’).
Final score: the public’s trust in the
A government has once again taken a serious hit. As we read in Het Parool : ‘In a year and a half, the percentage of this will give you the score for your offer Dutch people who have a lot of trust in the government has fallen drastically: from 70 percent in April last year (2020) to less than 30 percent in September 2021. This is evident from research by three universities and several municipalities.’
Regaining trust
We can scratch our heads, ask ourselves how this is possible and where this distrust comes from. But practical and solution-oriented as we search engine optimization united states america are as (online) communication professionals, we prefer to focus on a solution. Regain trust, prove ourselves and fight for our goal: to reduce the distance between government and society bit by bit.
Social media are not the be-all and end-all, but they are certainly the beginning of a solution. How do you tackle this? We give you four tips for free!
1. Actions speak louder than words
Saying that you are there for your residents is very noble and may seem obvious if you are a local administrator. It is more powerful if you simply show this. When a bond of trust is under pressure, words hardly make an impression anymore. Practice what you preach. You don’t just say that you are there for your target group, you also do it. Several mayors have understood this well.