Title: Likes, comments and shares on social media: exploring user engagement with a state tourism Facebook page

Authors: Ritesh Chugh; Smit Bhaveshkumar Patel; Niharikaben Patel; Umar Ruhi

Addresses: School of Engineering and Technology, Central Queensland University, 120 Spencer Street, Melbourne VIC 3000, Australia ' School of Engineering and Technology, Central Queensland University, 120 Spencer Street, Melbourne VIC 3000, Australia ' School of Engineering and Technology, Central Queensland University, 120 Spencer Street, Melbourne VIC 3000, Australia ' Telfer School of Management, University of Ottawa, 55 Laurier Ave. E, Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5, Canada

Abstract: This paper explores an Indian state's (Gujarat) tourism Facebook page with the intent of examining user engagement and interaction. Quantitative content analysis of Facebook posts over a one-year timeframe has been conducted, particularly looking at the multi-media type and the content posted. User engagement is determined by analysing likes, comments and shares on posts. Findings indicate that images form part of most posts, but videos tend to get more interaction with users. Facebook likes are not directly correlated to shares or comments. Comments and shares can be seen as a more reliable source of measuring engagement with users. Advertisements posts had the lowest engagement levels whereas development posts demonstrated the highest engagement levels. Social media managers, who are always keen to enhance user engagement and interaction with their Facebook pages, could utilise the findings to create posts that are related to customer interests to deliver more value.

Keywords: social media; Facebook; government; tourism; engagement; interaction; likes; shares; comments; India.

DOI: 10.1504/IJWBC.2019.101041

International Journal of Web Based Communities, 2019 Vol.15 No.2, pp.104 - 122

Received: 14 Dec 2018
Accepted: 01 Feb 2019
Published online: 22 Jul 2019 *

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