Digital dialogue and transparency: mayoral characteristics and the use of Threads in Italian local governments

Purpose – Social media are increasingly used by local governments (LGs) to enhance transparency and public accountability, yet limited evidence exists on the role of emerging platforms and on how political leadership shapes their adoption. This study aims to address this gap by examining the use of Threads, a recently introduced text-based social media platform, by Italian LGs. Drawing on agency theory, it investigates whether specific mayoral characteristics – gender, education, political ideology and age – influence the intensity of Threads use for transparency and public accountability purposes. Design/methodology/approach – This study is based on a sample of 84 Italian LGs with an official Threads account. The analysis relies on quantitative data capturing the intensity of Threads use, operationalized as the natural logarithm of the number of posts published by the sampled LGs during 2024. In addition, an inductive manual content analysis of Threads posts is conducted to provide further insight into the nature of the information disseminated, with particular attention to financial management information and other types of public information. An ordinary least squares regression model is used to test the relationships between mayoral characteristics and the use of Threads. Findings – The results show that Threads is primarily used by Italian LGs to disseminate information on public works, infrastructure and urban projects, public services and administrative matters and culture, tourism and local events, while less attention is devoted to financial management information. The regression analysis further shows that mayoral characteristics significantly influence the intensity of Threads use by Italian LGs. In particular, LGs led by female mayors, left-wing mayors and older mayors exhibit a more intensive use of Threads, suggesting a stronger orientation toward transparency, public accountability and strategic communication through this platform. By contrast, the educational attainment of the mayor does not appear to significantly affect the use of Threads. Originality/value – To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study provides one of the first empirical investigations of Threads as a tool for transparency and public accountability in the public sector. By examining the nature of the information disseminated through Threads, it also provides novel evidence on the extent to which LGs use this emerging platform to communicate financial management information alongside other types of public information. By focusing on an emerging text-based social media platform and on the role of mayoral characteristics, this study extends prior research on LGs’ social media use and advances the application of agency theory to digital communication practices in LGs.