Comments Off. For some time now the citizens who follow the Facebook page of the Municipality of Belluno have no longer been able to send questions or simply comment on the posts that are published.
It has been happening for a few months, but the question has raised a lot of perplexity recently, after the publication of news relating to the malfunction of the traffic light at the Baldenich intersection.
There were two aspects that made users stare: on the one hand the use of numerous emoticons, the “smilies” that have become popular with messaging services, and on the other, the impossibility of posting a comment on the subject.
The Municipality is not obliged to have a Facebook page to communicate with citizens. The law says that information must be given in a clear and timely manner, but for this purpose there is the website and the computer register. Having a page on a social network is a choice, but then why open it if you don’t leave the possibility to comment?
“The comments had already been blocked with the previous administration, the decision was then taken by the SIRP”, explains the mayor, Oscar De Pellegrin. The SIRP is the office that deals with giving information of an institutional nature and responding to citizens. “Comments are left free when you want to stimulate a debate, they are blocked when information is disseminated because it becomes difficult to respond to all users.”
Not that there were dozens of questions scrolling through the posts. But employees rightly observe working hours, and it’s understandable that you can’t follow the flow of comments. So why keep the page open?
“To give information that can then be found on the Municipality website, in a call, in an email or vis a vis in my office,” replies De Pellegrin. «An institutional page cannot leave messages unattended and unanswered which, by their nature, imply an immediate response. Therefore, we refer to other channels through which interventions are more manageable, such as email, telephone and meetings with the mayor ».
De Pellegrin is not very fond of social media and has never hidden his preference for face-to-face meetings with citizens. Enough to dedicate one morning a week to the people of Belluno, who can go to his office in Palazzo Rosso without an appointment every Wednesday from 8.30 to 10. Sirp also responds promptly on Messenger and invites you to write an email to [email protected] for any need. The Facebook page remains a sort of “showcase” for information and that’s it.
With regard to the style of the messages and the use of emoticons, which clashes with an institutional type of communication (just look at the pages of the other municipalities to see the difference), De Pellegrin sees nothing wrong: “It’s the style of office, it has always been used ». Formal communication is left to the website.