City of Los Angeles, Department of Cultural Affairs: DCA Redesign Social Report

The City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs has used social media to engage constituents, execute programming, and advocate change since 2012. The DCA Social Report was designed to review the social media pilot program and assess the efforts of six core program objectives: access, participation, relevance, responsiveness, transparency, and visibility. 

Read our summary of findings for a quick overview. For a detailed context of the report, read the extended introduction.

Data Analysis and Visualization

I co-authored this report with Wendy Hsu by digging deep into the data provided by Facebook and Twitter. I constructed formats to analyze both the qualitative and quantitative information behind the social media interactions. The six metrics previously described guided how we framed the data and how the graphs would inform the effectiveness of pilot strategies. 

Beyond data analysis is the visualization of the information that we collected. Mapping, graphing, and design software were all used to develop attractive demonstrations of the various parameters that operated the social media sites. 

Ultimately, the visualizations gave us clear insights into how the department's social media sites had effectively and ineffectively engaged constituents in a variety of manners. The entire report is available under a creative commons license to be cited and used by other government entities looking to capture the merits of online constituent engagement.