Municipalities or mayors sharing information about their city on Facebook, nothing very new. But increasingly, mayors are diversifying their presence on social networks to reach a wider audience, particularly young people. In recent weeks, Laurent Bonnaterre has, for example, launched his TikTok account as mayor in Caudebec-lès-Elbeuf.
Address all residents via different platforms
In very touristy towns on the coast, social networks such as Instagram or TikTok are already often used to attract visitors and highlight landscapes and monuments. But inland, in less frequented towns, elected officials are starting to take advantage of it to address their population above all.
Laurent Bonnaterre, mayor of Caudebec-lès-Elbeuf, is present on many platforms and has had his TikTok account for several weeks. A very young social network, a third of users are between 16 and 24 years old. It was also the young communications trainee at the town hall, Sofia Rafrafi, who encouraged the mayor to get started and helped him understand how it worked. “We adapted to the codes of TikTok but we adapted them to public communication, so we don’t do anything,” explains the young woman.
Sarah Saltiel-Ragot
On the other side of the Seine, in Bolbec, the town is also considering going on TikTok and has already invested in Instagram and soon LinkedIn. Mayor Dominique Doré notes thatdepending on the platform, the audience is not the same : older on Facebook, younger on Instagram, very young even on TikTok or Snapchat, and more professional on LinkedIn. So to inform each of its residents, the municipality is diversifying its accounts.
Share local information, far from controversies
For these two local elected officials, no controversial extracts from interviews on television sets or fiery positions taken. They use these social networks to share, in a different way, the news of their municipality and promote what they do there as elected officials. In Bolbec, work was done at the town hall and it was during this period that the mayor tested social networks to explain the upcoming changes and has not let up since. “We made fairly short formats, saying “here we are, we did such and such a street, such and such work” and the residents really liked that,” explains Christophe Doré, “They are the ones who pushed us to continue.” Bolbec's accounts are therefore used to communicate information and current projects.
For his part, Laurent Bonnaterre said that TikTok would be a good way to show the youngest what the daily life of a mayor is like : “I didn’t invent anything for TikTok, you see me going to drink coffee at the corner bar, buying my cheese at the market, talking to people, etc.” “There are things that they know of course but others not at all, and I see from the reactions that this arouses interest, enthusiasm,” continues the chosen one. A success that interests other municipalities, “I have a few fellow mayors who are copying me so it’s great,” smiles Dominique Doré.
