Effectiveness of city halls’ social networking sites in Poland based on the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) methodology

This contribution presents an evaluation of the effectiveness of the social media platform (Facebook, Instagram) promoting the brands of main city halls in Poland based on the DEA (Data Envelopment Analysis) methodology and its selected models.

The research question is that inhabitants use the fun pages of the city halls in Poland on the Facebook and Instagram social networks to get information about public e-services, public activities, projects, reports, and city views.

In September 2020, data were collected on input and output variables, with input data being photos, posts, and links to social networking sites of city halls in Poland on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn, and output data such as Likes, Comments, and Shares. The measurement of the efficiency of these input and output variables in order to assess the effectiveness of 18 main city halls in Poland was based on an input-oriented CCR DEA model. The number of Likes, Comments, and Shares on the Facebook, Instagram pages of the 18 city halls suggests that city inhabitants use Social Media to learn more about the services, events, and news they provide. Therefore, the DEA model is a functional tool to help evaluate the effectiveness of a public sector on a social network in promoting its e-services and activities, as it uses multiple variables and does not necessarily require an input-output relationship. The results of using this method confirmed the research question.

The results of the analysis show the current state of using social networking sites by the offices of the largest cities in Poland. Over 60% of examined profiles publish posts with low effectiveness. The obtained data show posts with the most effective topics. In the paper, six models were developed for which the effectiveness of posts was examined in terms of their topics. The results of the analysis indicate that posts with the themes of "e-services" and "ex-ante relationships" receive a higher number of responses. The least effective represent posts from the groups: "ex-post relations", "representatives of the city government", and the "city panorama".