Public Information Should Not Live on Facebook - Episode 11
If you’re a municipality, school district, Chamber, Main Street, tourism organization, or other community resource, important public information should not live exclusively on Facebook. Social media is useful for distribution, but it is a terrible place to serve as the only source of information your community needs.
Facebook Is Not a Public Record
It’s easy to say, “Everyone in our community is on Facebook.” First, that’s not true. Second, even the people who are there probably aren’t seeing everything you post.
Facebook is a feed. It is not designed to be an easily accessible historical archive or a reliable place for someone to find information later.
- Publish important information somewhere publicly accessible
- Make updates available without requiring a Facebook account
- Give people a reliable place to find information again later
If you’re a municipality, county, school district, or other public entity, there may also be legal requirements around public access to certain information. Those requirements vary by jurisdiction, so check what applies to you.
Make Information Easy to Find
In smaller communities, important information sometimes exists offline instead. Maybe it’s posted on a door, hung on a bulletin board, or available if you know the right person to call.
That works great if you already know where to go and who to ask. It doesn’t work nearly as well if you’re new to the community or simply don’t know the information exists.
- Put events and programs on your website
- Post important announcements where people can search for them
- Make basic community information accessible without requiring a phone call
Your website should be the place people can turn to when they have a question, even if they don’t already know who “Carolyn” is or which office they need to call.
Don’t Mistake Low Awareness for Low Interest
This is where the problem gets bigger.
You create a program. You post it to Facebook. Hardly anyone shows up. Then someone concludes, “I guess people aren’t interested.”
Maybe they were interested. Maybe they just never knew.
- Look beyond follower counts and consider actual reach
- Give programs more than one way to be discovered
- Make cancellations and changes easy to find
- Keep information available after the original social post disappears
Having 5,000 or 10,000 followers does not mean 5,000 or 10,000 people saw your post. It might have been 300. It might have been 46.
That’s not an interest problem. It’s an information problem.
Put the Information on Your Website First
This does not need to be complicated.
A simple calendar can work. A series of blog posts can work. A basic page that gets updated regularly can work.
- Create a public home for the information
- Keep it current and easy to navigate
- Use the tools you already have when possible
The important part is that the information exists on the public internet somewhere you control.
Make Your Information Discoverable by Google and AI
There’s another major benefit to putting this information on your website.
Google can find it. AI tools can find it. Other organizations can link to it. Your community has more ways to discover it.
- Publish useful information as actual website content
- Give search engines something they can index
- Make local information available to emerging AI tools
People increasingly expect to ask a question and get an answer. If the answer only exists inside a Facebook post or on a piece of paper taped to a door, you’re making that much harder.
Use Facebook for Distribution
None of this means you should stop posting to Facebook.
Facebook can still be useful. So can Instagram, email, cross-promotion, and other distribution channels.
The difference is simple: publish first, distribute second.
- Publish the information on your website
- Share the website content to social media
- Include it in your email newsletter
- Cross-promote it with community partners
Now Facebook is helping people find your information instead of being the only place that information exists.
Next Steps
Take a look at the information your organization currently shares with the community and ask a simple question: if someone missed the Facebook post, could they still find this?
If the answer is no, start there.
Move important events, programs, announcements, and public resources somewhere accessible on your website. Then use Facebook, email, cross-promotion, Google, and AI to help more people discover it.
If you’re not sure how to do that with the tools you already have, ask for help. There may be a free option, a paid option, or simply a better way to use what you already have.
Pro tip
Social media should help distribute your community information, not be the only place that information lives.
👉 Next Steps
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