Meta Changes the Rules, but Savvy Local Governments Already Have the Answers

How trusted agencies thrive in the evolving social media landscape

Over the past decade, smart local governments have quietly mastered the art of managing their own social media presence. From handling trolls to clarifying misinformation, it’s been a constant balancing act of transparency and strategy. Now, with Meta’s announcement of sweeping changes to its content moderation policies, some are worried about the impact on civic discourse.

But should they be?

In my experience in local government communications, no one ever relied on a social media platform to do the heavy lifting when it came to content moderation. That’s always been an in-house job. Reaching out to Facebook or X directly to get their help with problematic or dishonest commenters would have never occurred to me the way it apparently did to federal agency operatives, and I began managing social media channels way back in 2008.

As someone who has worked in this field, I can confidently say savvy local governments are ahead of the curve in managing online communities. They’ve known meaningful engagement starts with creating quality content, being forthright, and directly addressing questions — whether they come from curious residents or critical naysayers.

Meta’s New Era of Free Expression

Mark Zuckerberg’s announcement Jan. 7 outlined Meta’s plans to scale back content moderation, simplify policies, and emphasize free expression.

“We’re going to get back to our roots about giving people voice,” Zuckerberg said, acknowledging the mistakes inherent in trying to moderate billions of posts daily.

Meta is phasing out fact-checkers in the United States, introducing a “Community Notes” model, and raising the bar for removing content​. They are also going to quit downranking civic content. Here’s what Joel Kaplan, Meta’s chief global affairs officer, had to say about coming changes.

We’re going to start treating civic content from people and Pages you follow on Facebook more like any other content in your feed, and we will start ranking and showing you that content based on explicit signals (for example, liking a piece of content) and implicit signals (like viewing posts) that help us predict what’s meaningful to people. We are also going to recommend more political content based on these personalized signals and are expanding the options people have to control how much of this content they see.

To me, this sounds like great news for government social media managers aiming to expand the reach of their posts. Facebook has long faced challenges distinguishing content from political figures from that of government agencies. Unfortunately, both were often grouped under “civic content” and subsequently downranked by Meta.

In a podcast discussing the changes, Zuckerberg highlighted the rising need for trustworthiness and truth in public discourse.

“It’s not that people trust Facebook or X,” he said. “They trust the creators and the voices that they feel like are being authentic and giving them valuable information … I think (there’s) going to be just this whole new class of creators who basically become the new kind of cultural elites that people look at and are, like, OK. These are the people who give it to me straight.”

For years, dauntless local governments have been doing just that, operating as their communities’ most trusted voices. In many ways, Zuckerberg’s vision of a more transparent, less-moderated online world mirrors the practices many local governments have relied on all along.

In today’s newsletter, the first in an occasional series on government use of social media, we’ll hear from two seasoned local government communicators who have been on the digital frontlines for over a decade.

Lessons from Masters of Social Media Management

While Meta grapples with the complexities of global moderation, local government professionals like Austin Ellington and Sara Bustilloz of the City of Round Rock, Texas, have spent years honing their craft at the community level. Their insights reveal a simple but powerful truth: trust isn’t built by algorithms — it’s earned by engaging directly with people.

Why should you pay attention to Austin and Sara? Their results speak for themselves. From their annual report to the City Council:

We saw steady growth in 2024 with 16,000 inbound Facebook messages and a combined following of 182,000 across Facebook, Instagram, and X—a 9% year-over-year increase, including a 40% increase on Instagram driven by a strategic emphasis on that platform. Our posts generated 17.4 million impressions and 995,000 engagements, resulting in a 7.3% engagement rate, which exceeded the 1.86% average for government agencies, with 11.7% on Facebook and 7.2% on Instagram.

And those numbers come from a city with a population of just 137,884. It’s no wonder Facebook often highlighted Round Rock’s work at local government conferences as a model for how to excel on the platform. Clearly, this team knows how to drive results.

The award-winning Round Rock communications staff has earned a national reputation for excellence in social media. That’s Sara in the middle and Austin on the far right. The others, from left, are Neil Scanlon, Courtney Ainsworth and Jesse Davis.

A Decade of Adapting to Change
Austin, who has managed the City of Round Rock’s Facebook page for a decade, spoke about the constant evolution of the platform and his role. Meta’s recent announcement is just the latest change along the way. He’ll adapt as needed, and most assuredly not for the last time.

“When I started, it was just about trying things to see what worked,” he said.

This relentless focus on experimentation and refinement has paid off. Today, Round Rock’s Facebook page has over 106,000 followers, a testament to the value of high-quality, audience-centered content. The key, Austin said, is consistency: “You build credibility day in, day out, week in, week out.”

Respectful Moderation
One of the most compelling lessons from capable local governments is how to handle criticism and misinformation without alienating residents. Austin described the delicate art of responding to false claims in a way that educates rather than condescends.

“You’ve got to be able to say, ‘That’s not correct,’ in a respectful way,” he explained, crediting this approach with turning some of the city’s harshest critics into unlikely allies.

Here’s what that looks like in practice. I’ve taken two posts from residents critical of various aspects of the City’s then-proposed economic development agreement with Kalahari Resorts and Conventions, which wanted to build a $600 million attraction in Round Rock.

This comment is on the potential impact of the project on traffic — always a hot button issue in Round Rock.

Here’s the city’s reply.

The TL;dr is the city provided information about specific roadway improvements planned for the Kalahari project, as well as details of the $1.2 billion transportation master plan that addresses traffic needs across the entire community. Austin had this information at the ready because the city had prepared for such questions well in advance of the project being announced.