Detroit uses social media to shape its narrative, but rules unclear

The big picture: Governments and the individuals who run them use social media to tell their story and engage with the public. Like corporate America, those governments also set rules on what employees can say on their own accounts.

• Controversial statements made on social media by public workers about the assassination attempt on former President Trump have resulted in resignations and firings across the country.

Between the lines: The city has not confirmed whether it has a social media policy for its employees. Although initially indicating one exists, spokesperson John Roach didn't provide a written policy after multiple requests from Axios.

State of play: The city's social media department typically posts flyers and infographics informing residents of meetings and important dates. Officials have used the same channels to advocate for controversial policies.

• This week, the city's social media accounts are pushing the mayor's solar farm initiative, which prompted questions from City Council President Mary Sheffield on Tuesday.
• Last spring, a video posted by the city featured pastors and community activists urging City Council to approve tax abatements for the $1.5 billion District Detroit development.
• The city's primary social media page pushed for Mayor Mike Duggan's land value tax plan last year. That proposal died after House Speaker Rep. Joe Tate (D-Detroit) failed to convince skeptical members of the state House of Representatives.

Behind the scenes: The city's social media pages are run by the mayor's office's communications director Vickie Thomas and the city's media services director Jasmine Barnes, who assumed the position this year.

• The Media Services Department posts for and coordinates with the various city departments and elected officials. It's similar to how it accommodates graphic design requests, video production or audio setups for public meetings, according to Roach.

• Media Services is responsible for daily programming, operation and management of Government Access Channel 10, Education Access Channel 22, Neighborhoods Channel 21 and Public Access Channel 68.
• The department interfaces with the mayor's office, City Council, city departments and community organizations to produce programming.

By the numbers: The city's Instagram account has the largest audience with 160,000 followers. Audiences on Facebook (81,000) and X (41,000) are much bigger than on TikTok, where the account with fewer than 400 followers hasn't been active since January.

What they're saying: "Media Services is a central department, sort of like IT, which serves the needs of various departments and elected offices. It's been like that since at least 2014 when I started," Roach tells Axios.

• Roach said this month that he believes the city's human resources department was working on a social media policy for employees' use of social media.