Online interaction of municipal authorities with the population (case of surveys on VKontakte in the Northwestern federal district of Russia)

The extensive and compulsory adoption of social media by government authorities facilitates citizens’ participation in the decision-making process. Therefore, it seems relevant to study the nature and topics of communication of Russian municipal authorities with local communities within the social landscape. Based on the text data analysis, the article examines the regional features of organizing population surveys on the official pages of the Northwestern Federal District municipalities on VKontakte. The research consisted of several stages: 1) formation of a database on municipal official pages in VK; 2) automated collection of surveys; 3) classification of surveys by content and time; 4) determination of interregional differences and similarities in conducting surveys. 2536 surveys from the official pages of municipal districts and 1321 surveys from the official pages of municipalities were analyzed. Surveys on the official pages of regional and local authorities are conducted in social, economic, political and entertainment areas. There is a positive trend with the increase of surveys on VK in the regions of the Northwestern Federal District. The entertainment sphere predominates in groups of districts; whereas the social sphere predominates in settlements. Data analysis showed that surveys are conducted in settlements’ groups in order to solve specific territorial problems in comparison to groups of districts. The questions about the future prevail at the settlement level that can be explained by the development of participatory budgeting. The example of regional brand surveys showed that it is not only a convenient way of communication with the population, but also an opportunity to find out the residents’ opinions and get approval for changes. Surveys conducted on government official pages can serve as a crowdsourcing tool to enhance public engagement in municipal affairs.