Governments increasingly rely on social media to inform citizens about public services, elections and emergencies. However, the visibility of those messages depends largely on the algorithms of platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. These algorithms are designed primarily to stimulate attention and interaction, and they determine which messages users do or do not see.

This places governments in a fundamental dilemma. To reach their target audience, they may feel compelled to adapt their communication to what algorithms reward, for example by using popular trends, humour or emotional storytelling. At the same time, they are expected to remain reliable, neutral and transparent, values that can conflict with the underlying logic of social media platforms.

Schwoerer will investigate how governments navigate this tension and how citizens respond to different styles of government communication. She will compare government communication in the Netherlands, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and Sweden, combining social media analyses with experiments to determine what role algorithms play in the relationship between governments and citizens. By comparing countries with different administrative cultures, she also aims to establish whether some governments are better equipped than others to withstand the pressure of social media algorithms.

The research findings are intended to help governments communicate more effectively online without losing sight of democratic values such as transparency, accountability and public trust. Together with communication professionals, digital technology experts and government organisations, Schwoerer will develop practical tools to support public organisations in communicating within an increasingly algorithm-driven online environment. The Veni grant gives her the opportunity to conduct fundamental research over the coming years into the influence of social media algorithms on public administration, with the aim of helping governments remain visible, reliable and accessible in a digital society.