The Utilization of Facebook by the Swedish Police

In this thesis, we investigate the Swedish police’s performance on Facebook using the honeycomb framework as a theoretical foundation on social media. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the national Swedish police and the Helsingborg police’s Facebook pages in order to answer what aspects will increase performance on Facebook. We have created a research framework that assesses the perceptions of each building block of the honeycomb framework within the context of the Swedish police. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with key personnel responsible for the Facebook pages of the national Swedish police and the Helsingborg police. Interviews were also conducted with two members of the public to gain insight on their perceptions of the Swedish police on Facebook. Empirical findings indicate that five of the seven building blocks of the honeycomb framework were best suited within the context of the Swedish police. Through operationalization, two performance matrices were created to demonstrate the how the Swedish police can best perform on their Facebook pages. As a result, the best communicative method for the Swedish police to use on Facebook is pictures and the type of content that can influence greater public engagement is urgent information. Therefore, the Swedish police can increase their performance on Facebook by applying these performance matrices, which will in turn improve reputation.