The role of social media in local government crisis communications

•More than 300 local government officials were surveyed.•Social media use is positively associated with the ability to control a crisis.•Extent of social media use impacts evaluations of crisis response.

Using survey data collected from more than 300 local government officials from municipalities across the United States, this study examines social media use in a relatively unexplored context, local governments. It specifically addresses the adoption and use of social media tools for crisis communication and social media's part in managing a crisis. Results indicate the extent of social media use, but not the number of tools used, is positively associated with local city officials’ assessments of their ability to control a crisis situation as well as their overall evaluations of the strength of their responses. Implications and importance of findings are discussed.