By Kellen Stepler, The Tribune-Review, Greensburg The Tribune Content Agency
Tom Bell starts his shift at 4:30 a.m. each day as Greensburg's streets superintendent.
While most people take the same route to work, Bell takes a different way almost daily. Instead of listening to music or the morning news, he logs onto the public works department's Facebook page to record a video of his trip and update followers on street conditions and upcoming city happenings.
"We get out and let everybody know what's going on," said Bell, who has been posting the videos for about a year.
It's just one of the ways local governments are turning to Facebook to keep residents informed, combat misinformation and encourage interaction.
Some are just getting into the social scene. Springdale, for instance, launched an official Facebook page only earlier this year. Sharpsburg established its page Nov. 20. Other communities across Western Pennsylvania have long had such pages.
"Our intention is to be transparent of all information, and with transparency, that builds trust," said Corey Ochai, a Sharpsburg councilman. "A lot of information people seek is there. We just want to provide easier access to it. More conversations lead to more trust, and that's our hope."
'One-stop shop'
The goal, local officials say, is to give a social media-focused public a safe place to see what their government is doing.
"It's a lot of work, but it's important we have that open, transparent dialogue with those in our community," said Heather Starr Fiedler, chair of Point Park University's Department of Community Engagement. "Those are elected positions and that's part of their job - to communicate with the community."
According to a govloop.com study that surveyed 451 government leaders and public-sector employees, 87% of respondents said their organization has a Facebook page, and 91% said the No. 1 objective was to keep residents informed.
In Springdale, an official Facebook page is the best way to get the word out, said Councilwoman Toni Robbins. She said people are more likely to be on their phones rather than reading news articles or on the borough's website.
Information being posted on other Facebook community groups sparked the idea for an official borough page, Robbins said. The official Springdale page provides only information about the borough - such as meeting agendas, upcoming events, street closures or hydrant flushing, Robbins said.
Springdale Council members share information they want posted with the borough's office staff, who send a draft of the post to council for review, Robbins said. Then the information is posted.
A link to borough ordinances is posted on the page. Robbins would like to see council meetings livestreamed on the page at some point.
"It's a one-stop shop for information," she said.
The borough needs to update its official website to become more mobile-device friendly, Springdale Councilman Joe Kern said. That will cost money, but having a Facebook page is free, he said.
In Greensburg, each of Bell's videos gets more than 300 views. Not exactly viral by internet standards, but Bell isn't trying to reach the world.
People comment or email him based on things in the videos, and he's able to respond.
"It's been very good," he said. "Everybody's been very receptive."
Lower Burrell's office staff is capable of posting on its official Facebook page, Mayor Chris Fabry said. They can post items such as community events, but any official statements have to be cleared by City Manager Greg Primm.
They also are able to share posts from the police department's page and Fabry's mayor's page. Fabry acknowledged Lower Burrell is unique in that his own page is more active than the city's account.
"The city will post street updates and stuff like that, but everything else tends to come from my page," he said.
Ochai said Sharpsburg established its Facebook page to be more effective with communication, knowing that many of its residents are active on the site.
"I think a lot of people have their own narrative, and we wanted to provide them with the right information to create it," he said.
Sharpsburg's communications committee - of which Ochai is a member - will operate the page. He is planning for three posts per week dealing with upcoming events, news such as street closures or construction, and general information. Every post will include a link to the borough's website for people to learn more.
Everything the borough does is posted to its website, Ochai said, but that doesn't generate traffic.
"We have to go where the people are instead of them coming to us," he said.
Public opinion
Although officials say they want better interaction with residents through social media, whether to allow comments on posts - and how to monitor them - is a real issue.
People can "like" and "share" posts on the Springdale page but can't leave comments.
"We don't want it to turn into other Facebook pages where people leave hate comments," Robbins said. "Ours is about information only about council."
Even though people can't leave comments, there is ample opportunity to contact Springdale officials with questions and concerns, Robbins said.
"We want people to come to meetings and ask questions, because so many people go to Facebook pages and complain - but nobody goes to the meetings and asks the questions," Robbins said.
Sharpsburg's page does not allow comments and instead acts as a "digital billboard."
Allowing comments could be more hurtful than helpful, Ochai said.
Starr Fiedler said she favors allowing comments, but she understands why some communities don't.
Under Pennsylvania's Open Records Law, social media pages run by governments or government agencies are considered public records, she said. Therefore, deleting comments - even offensive ones - could run afoul of state law.
"Comments can be difficult to manage," she said.
Before communities launch their social media pages, they should develop a strategy for what they want the page to look like, the information they plan to post and a crisis response plan - not only for crises in the community but also on social media.
Melinda Roberts, borough manager for Southwest Greensburg, said the mayor, council president and borough office staff have access to the municipality's Facebook page. Posting and replying to comments is a "shared responsibility," she said.
"With most people having an app for various social media platforms, I would expect to reach people faster with a Facebook post," Roberts said. "We continue to share borough information on our website as well as on our Facebook page."
Community engagement
North Huntingdon's Facebook page has more than 8,700 followers - a number that has tripled in the past two years, township Manager Harry Faulk said. In the past 90 days, the township's posts have reached more than 137,000 users and had nearly 79,000 people engaging in posts.
Using Facebook and other social media outlets allows township officials and residents to communicate with each other, building trust and keeps people informed and engaged, Faulk said. The township's website is used to provide information such as meeting agendas and minutes, forms and other official documents.
The township's media platforms are managed by its communications coordinator. Faulk and the parks and recreation coordinator also have access to post information.
"Facebook allows us to quickly disseminate information in real time, along with providing us feedback through comments, to gauge the community interest," Faulk said.
Lower Burrell's Fabry said his page gives people "direct access to their mayor."
"If they message me or comment, I always respond," he said. "I answer their questions and give them added insight into their comments."
The city's page is not fully monitored by anyone, so comments can go unanswered there, he said.
"I get notifications if someone posts on my page but not on the city's page, and there is simply not time for me - or anyone on council - to monitor a site we aren't posting on," he said. "So it's a great place to share information but not necessarily get engagement."
Starr Fielder thinks, when done correctly, official pages can drive civic engagement and provide greater transparency.
"I think it can be an excellent way to get information out and have engaged citizens who care about the work they're doing," she said. "There's growing pains because there will always be commenters who don't like what you're doing, but it's a great way to get more people interested with what's going on."
Kellen Stepler is a TribLive reporter covering the Allegheny Valley and Burrell school districts and surrounding areas. He joined the Trib in April 2023. He can be reached at [email protected].