Leesburg PIO outlines social media strategy, warns of staffing and moderation limits

The Town of Leesburg’s public information officers told the Technology and Communications Commission they rely on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Nextdoor as primary channels and are cautious about adopting new apps because of staffing and moderation burdens.

Cara Rodriguez, the town’s public information officer, said the town has put “a lot” of its communications effort into social media because residents prefer visuals and short videos, and noted the town created a weekly newsletter after subscribers complained of too many email releases. Rodriguez said Facebook is the town’s most-followed platform, with about 23,700 followers as of the previous week, Instagram about 6,500 and YouTube growing from almost no videos to more than 270 posts and about 468 subscribers.

Rodriguez and Leah Kosen, the assistant public information officer, described how the town uses each platform: Facebook for community engagement and notices, Instagram for visuals, YouTube for archived video, and Nextdoor for neighborhood-targeted notices. Kosen said the town posts news releases, event photos, road-closure and emergency alerts, ribbon-cutting live streams and reminders, and aims to respond to social-media inquiries within 24 hours.

Kosen described operational controls: town staff maintain a roster of account administrators and the public information officers grant admin access after vetting with a department director. “Kara and I have access to every single account that’s here in the town,” Kosen said, adding the town can give limited “editor” roles or full admin rights depending on need.

The pair said the town archives its social accounts using ArchiveSocial and saves live videos to the town’s YouTube channel so material persists even as platforms change rules. Kosen said Facebook will limit how long live videos remain on the site (thirty days beginning in mid‑year), so staff download and back up significant recordings to YouTube and embed them on the town website when appropriate.

On security and link‑tracking, Kosen said the town uses a paid Bitly account and friendly URLs on the town website, though she acknowledged staff cannot constantly monitor click paths and that deeper analytics would require dedicated staff time. She confirmed staff cannot view employees’ private social accounts unless an employee tags the town or otherwise posts publicly.

Asked about new platforms, Kosen reviewed Blue Sky as a recent example. She said Blue Sky is decentralized, allows images and short text posts, and has grown to millions of users but still trails larger platforms. “It does offer another option for our users. It could allow agencies greater control over data and moderation of their accounts,” she said, but added that smaller audiences, moderation challenges and reputational or political‑bias risks make the town cautious about early adoption.

Rodriguez reminded the commission that the town’s social media policy is available under the Government tab on the town website and that town accounts and content are subject to the Virginia Freedom of Information Act. “All of the content on our social media accounts … is considered to be moderated online discussion sites,” she said, and FOIA requests can apply to posts and messages relating to town business.

The PIOs said they coordinate with the Leesburg Police Department’s PIO on language and policy and hold quarterly social media admin meetings for cross‑promotion and policy refreshes. They also monitor local private pages and groups that discuss town business and will escalate misinformation to department leaders when needed.

The presentation closed with the PIOs reiterating a preference for maintaining a limited set of well‑managed channels rather than expanding to every new app: “It’s always better to have fewer main well‑maintained sites,” Kosen said.