Municipalities in northeastern Ontario still lag behind those in the rest of the province when it comes to social media usage, says a new survey on the topic.
Redbrick Communications Inc., a communications firm that specializes in work with municipal governments, published its seventh annual Municipal Government 2.0 report earlier this month.
The firm surveyed Ontario's municipalities on their social media usage, and found that 72 per cent of municipalities were active on social media, in one form or another, in 2016.
But in northeastern Ontario, only 46 per cent municipalities used social media in 2016.
In central Ontario, including the Greater Toronto Area, 97 per cent of municipalities used social media, while 62 per cent of municipalities in northwestern Ontario were on social media.
Brian Lambie, Redbrick Communications' president, said small municipalities have said they have concerns about the amount of time and resources it would take to manage social media accounts.
But Lambie said social media can be an effective way to reach out to residents and inform them about municipal programs and services.
Transit systems, libraries and tourism departments, for example, have benefited greatly from the use of social media, he said.
In 2010, when Redbrick Communications started to track municipalities' use of social media, only 25 of Ontario's 444 municipalities were active in that area.
Lambie said the tipping point was in 2012 when Ontario municipalities had elections and candidates turned to social media to reach out to voters.
When those candidates were elected they continued the practice and municipal services followed their example.
While northeastern Ontario generally lags behind on social media usage, the city of Sault Ste. Marie topped the list for the most likes on Facebook. Sudbury ranked 14th for Facebook likes.
