Government Communication on Social Media: Balancing Platforms, Propaganda, and Public Service

Social media have become essential channels for government communication with the public, creating opportunities for engagement with citizens, greater complexities in messaging and interactions, and distinct challenges in addressing government-citizen relations. This thematic issue brings together several articles that explore how governments, officials, and citizens interact on social media platforms. Collectively, the contributions illuminate how social media reshape communicative roles, redefine the boundaries between journalism, propaganda, and public service, and challenge democratic accountability. The studies employ a wide range of theoretical frameworks (from mediatization and affordance theory to principal-agent models and boundary work theory), distinct contexts (such as crisis communication, health communication, and military intervention), and several methodological approaches including text mining, machine learning, and mixed-methods approaches, among others.