The growth of social media. The COVID-19 pandemic.
“Those two things, when combined, made [working in municipal government] a little bit more challenging,” said Town Administrator Patrice Garvin. “Social media was always there, but as the sites have grown, the number of social media platforms have grown, each year it has become more of an issue.”
The public’s lack of trust in government at the federal level has also affected the way the public interacts with other public-facing government employees, including those in municipal government. A Pew Charitable Trust study in 2023 found that 79% of Americans use negative words to describe their feelings about politicians, the two most common being “divisive” and “corrupt. “ Only 16% say they trust the federal government always or most of the time, and 61% of the public said talking about politics with people they disagree with is stressful and frustrating…